A comparison of the success of artificial cover types for capturing amphibians and reptiles

Abstract

The use of artificial cover objects, or cover boards, is a common method for collecting and surveying amphibians and reptiles. Cover objects, plywood and corrugated tin, were placed in open and closed canopy sites in an east Texas floodplain. The assemblages captured were compared between tin and wood. The odds of capture were compared between the two types as well as the odds of capture in open and closed canopy sites. The combined amphibian and reptile assemblages differed between tin and plywood. The odds of capturing an amphibian or reptile under corrugated tin were slightly higher (1.2:1) when compared to plywood. Further, the odds of capture were less likely in closed canopy sites (0.89) than open canopy sites.Due to their rather cautious and surreptitious lifestyles, amphibians and reptiles can be difficult to study. Consequently, several methods are used to sample for amphibians and reptiles including drift fence arrays, visual encounter surveys, audible cues, and artificial cover objects (e.g. Fitch, 1987;Lips, 1999;Lewis et al., 2000;Foster and Hampton, 2003), and some studies have compared the accuracy, and efficiency of the different techniques (Ryan et al., 2002;Ford and Hampton, 2005). Sampling artificial cover objects is a popular method for surveying and collecting amphibians and reptiles. Natural ground cover is commonly used by both amphibians and reptiles (Conant and Collins, 1998), and artificial cover objects provide similar refuge for a variety of species. Cover boards are a favorable method for amphibian and reptile studies because they are relatively easy to maintain, effort can be easily analyzed, and many artificial cover objects can be sampled in a short period of time (Grant et al., 1992). Artificial cover objects can be as accurate at detecting activity and abundance of some species as pitfall drift fences (Sutton et al., 1999) but do not

Landscape and local influences on patterns of reptile occurrence in grazed temperate woodlands of southern Australia

“…Refuge surveys typically utilise artificial cover, such as cover-boards, fence-posts or tiles (e.g. Michael et al, 2004;Michael, Lunt, & Robinson, 2003;Hampton, 2007). For this study, we deployed a fixed array of 30 tiles (30 cm × 30 cm) in every 1 ha plot four months before the first survey; each array comprised six equally spaced rows, 15 m apart, of five tiles.…”

Comparative use of active searches and artificial refuges to detect amphibians in terrestrial environments

“…). The use of artificial refuges (also called cover boards and cover objects) is a well‐established method for detecting amphibians in terrestrial environments (Hampton ; Willson & Gibbons ), and has been used extensively to study salamanders (Hyde & Simons ; Houze & Chandler ; Marsh & Goicochea ; Bailey et al . ; Hesed ; Gorgolewski et al .…”

Revegetation, restoration and reptiles in rural landscapes: Insights from long‐term monitoring programmes in the temperate eucalypt woodlands of south‐eastern Australia

“…; Thompson & Thompson ), artificial covers and substrates (Michael et al . ; Hampton ; Lettink & Cree ) and active searches of natural habitat (Brown & Nicholls ; Michael et al . ).…”