Python Notes for mca i year students osmania university.docx
Montgomery County FrogWatch (2/24 Training)
1. Welcome to the Montgomery
County FrogWatch Chapter!
Website: www.mygreenmontgomery.org/frogwatch
Email: DEP.FrogWatch@montgomerycountymd.gov
2. Volunteer Training Session Topics
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FrogWatch USA and Montgomery County
Volunteer Commitments
Amphibians and wetlands
Monitoring Protocols
Data Entry using FieldScope
Local frogs and toads
4. Benefits of the Data
• Describe local species diversity
• Detect rare and invasive species
• Suggest shifts in species diversity, range, and
phenology over time
• Serve as an indicator of wetland health
• Inform the development of land management
strategies
5. Montgomery County, MD
507 sq. miles
Over 1 million people
Nearly 400,000 homes
Very Diverse - 184 languages spoken
About 12% impervious surface overall
About the size of Washington DC
– 61 sq. miles or about 39,000 ac
Over 1,500 miles of streams
Two major river basins:
Potomac (88% of drainage)
Patuxent (12% of drainage)
Eight local watersheds
6. Volunteer Commitments
• Must attend 2 volunteer
trainings
– Today, Jan, 30th
– Field training in mid
March
• Monitor a site for a 3
minute period weekly or
otherwise confirmed by
DEP
•Enter all data online using
FieldScope
Cider Press/Gunner’s Branch Pond, Germantown
7. Amphibians
• Have gills during at least one stage of their life
cycle
• Live part of their lives in the water, part on land
• Appeared on Earth ~350 million years ago and
are one of the oldest vertebrate classes alive
• Three Orders: salamanders, frogs & toads, and
caecilians
– Distinguished from other amphibians by being tail-less
8. Anurans: Frogs and Toads
Southern Leopard Frog
American Bullfrog
Fowler’s Toad
American Toad
Frogs
Toads
• Smooth or slimy skin
• Lay eggs in clusters
• Usually live in or near water
• Skinny bodies with long legs
• Move in leaps and jumps
• Upper jaw with teeth
•Warty, dry skin
•Lay eggs in long strands
•Usually live on dry land
•Fat bodies with short legs
•Move in short hops
•No teeth
9. Frogs and Toads are Important
• Benefit the natural world and humans:
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Predators and prey in the ecosystem
Pest control
Food
Medicine
Education and research
• Serve as indicators of wetland health
• Sensitive to the environment
10. Amphibian Declines
• Globally, almost one out of every
third amphibian species is
threatened with extinction
• Primary Causes of Decline:
– Habitat loss and fragmentation
– Pollutants
– Introduction of non-native, invasive
species
– Climate disruption
– Parasites and disease
11. Wetlands
• Frogs and toads need water to breed, so
FrogWatch USA data is collected at wetlands
• Wetlands are defined by three characteristics:
– The presence of plants that are known to grow in
saturated conditions
– Soils that lack oxygen
– Water at or near the surface during some part of the
growing season.
12. Types of Wetlands
• Marshes
– Frequently covered in water; emergent soft-stemmed vegetation
• Vernal pools
– Form in spring from melting snow or rains; often dry in summer
• Swamps
– Saturated soil, sometimes with standing water; plant life dominated by
woody plants
• Bogs
– Include spongy peat, derive water from precipitation; highly acidic
waters support low plant diversity
• Fens
– Like bogs, but also receive water from sources like groundwater, and
therefore gain nutrients that support more diverse plant life
13. Site Selection
• Pre-registered by DEP:
http://frogwatch.fieldscope.org/v3/maps/170
or
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?mid=z_UhZFkGrgBI.ky-l4pQ7jNMg
• Register your own:
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Choose a site that is:
– Legally accessible!!! (must
get letter of permission from
property owner)
– Convenient to access
– Quiet
– Safe for data collection in the
evening
Wheaton Branch Regional Pond, Silver Spring
14. Site Registration
• Collect the following information about the site:
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Type of habitat
Origin of wetland
Source or origin of water
Permanence of water
Use of land adjacent to wetland
Use of land within wetland
Latitude and longitude
Montgomery County Airpark Regional Pond, Gaithersburg
• Register site using FrogWatch FieldScope
15. Monitoring Protocol:
Prior to Arrival at Site
• Practice identifying the calls
• Ensure appropriate weather conditions for
monitoring:
– Above 35 degrees Fahrenheit
– Not raining too hard, nor too windy
• Plan to monitor at least 30 minutes after sunset
16. Monitoring Protocol:
Prior to Arrival at Site
Prepare a monitoring equipment kit, to include:
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Copy of Monitoring Protocol, datasheet for each visit
Clipboard
Pencil or indelible ink pen
Thermometer (Local Weather Report or other Weather App)
Stopwatch, Wristwatch, or Stopwatch App
One flashlight per person
Cell phone
Written permission from property owner
Optional: Extra flashlight, field guide, tape recorder, camera, rain gear
17. Monitoring Protocol:
Upon Arrival
• On FrogWatch USA
Datasheet…
– Enter volunteer and site
information
– Record weather
information required
Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks
FrogWatch Chapter
18. Required Weather Information
• Air temperature
• Wind speed (Beaufort Wind Scale)
0 – Calm: smoke rises vertically; 0 mph
1 – Light air: rising smoke drifts; slight movement of air; 1-3 mph
2 – Light breeze: leaves rustle; wind felt on face; 4-7 mph
3 – Gentle breeze: leaves and twigs in constant motion; 8-12 mph
Too windy to monitor:
4 – Moderate breeze: moves small branches, dust, loose paper; 13-18
mph
5 – Fresh breeze: small trees begin swaying; 19-24 mph
• Current precipitation
• 48 hour weather history
19. Monitoring Protocol
• 2 minute acclimation period
• Listen quietly for precisely 3
minutes.
• Listen to, identify, and
remember all breeding calls
occurring in the session.
• If the monitoring session is
interrupted by noise, restart
it, including the 2 minute
acclimation period.
• Record data
Sue Muller, Howard County Department of Recreation and
Parks FrogWatch Chapter
20. Calling Intensity
0 – No frogs or toads heard calling
1 – Individuals can be counted; there is space
between calls
2 – Calls of individuals can be distinguished, but
there is some overlapping of calls
3 – Full chorus, calls are constant, continuous,
and overlapping
21. Monitoring Protocol:
Online Data Submission
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Enter data directly using FrogWatch
FieldScope
http://frogwatch.fieldscope.org/v3/maps
• Retain all data sheets until given to DEP
(at next training)
22. Next Steps for Volunteers
1. Pick a monitoring site:
http://frogwatch.fieldscope.org/v3/maps/170 or
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/u/0/edit?mid=z_UhZFkGrgBI.kyl4pQ7jNMg
2. Study frog and toad calls:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DEP/water/frogs-and-toads.html
3. Create a FieldScope username:
http://frogwatch.fieldscope.org/v3/maps
4. Monitor
Thank you for registering and coming.
Brand new chapter
Training was booked to capacity
Introduction to chapter coordinators
Sign in and forms
Overview of training topics.
Explanation of what FrogWatch is
Is for all ages and families.
Volunteers are encouraged to monitor in groups for safety and to ensure the quality of their data.
Citizen Science is…
A research collaboration between scientists and volunteers
Expands opportunities for scientific data collection, while providing access to scientific information to community members
Appropriate for large-scale, long term data
Montgomery County pre-registered sites are Stormwater Management Ponds owned and maintained by DEP. Never before been monitored.
Very large and populated community. Only second to Baltimore City within MD for average number of people per square mile.
With the vast amount of streams in such a populated county it is important we protect our waterways and the animals that live there.
2 volunteer trainings
Each group assigned a site to monitor once a week or once every other week, dependent upon how many groups are assigned per site.
Each monitoring period is 3 minutes long with a 2 minute acclimation period.
Monitoring period should be around a total of 30 minutes depending on distance from monitoring location.
Must enter data at a timely manner directly online to FieldScope
Save data sheets and bring to second training for chapters to review for data quality.
Frogs and toads are part of the order Anura within the class Amphibia, or more commonly amphibians
The word amphibian means “living a double life” from the greek “amphi” meaning both and “bios” meaning life.
They have this name because they live part of their life in water and part on land
One of the oldest vertebrate classes alive, appearing on Earth about 350 million years ago
Group Activity (Index Cards what’s the difference between frogs and toads ~5 minutes long)
Go over group activity on flipchart
Tadpoles eat algae and help clean our waterways
Tadpoles are preyed on my fish
As adults, frogs and toads consume mostly insects. Helps control insects that may be agricultural pests or carry diseases such as West Nile virus
Are preyed on my birds, snakes, and other small animals.
Approximately 10% of the Nobel prizes in physiology and medicine have resulted from investigations using frogs (Tyler, et al. 2007. How frogs and humans interact: Influences beyond habitat destruction, epidemics and global warming. APPLIED HERPETOLOGY 4: 1-18)
Sensitive to the Environment:
Permeable skin transfers oxygen and moisture, but also allows chemicals to enter their bodies
Life cycle includes time both in the water and on land, increasing exposure to all types of pollutant
Over past 20 years, scientists have reported dramatic declines in amphibian populations around the world
Globally, almost one out of every third amphibian species is threatened with extinction
In the United States, 38 amphibians are listed under the Endangered Species Act
In Montgomery County there are no threatened or endangered frog and toad species
Primary causes of decline
Pollutants = pesticides, herbicides, light pollution cause mutations
Climate change = droughts drying up ponds before tadpoles go through metamorphosis
Parasite and disease
FrogWatch monitoring conducted at wetlands
Need water to breed
Wetlands are defined by…
Skip over for time
8 pre-registered sites by DEP
Register your own:
LEGALLY ACCESSIBLE
Safe
Convenient
Quiet
(Handout of site registration form for volunteers to review later)
Appropriate weather conditions
Too rainy or windy cannot hear calls
Monitor at night bc frogs and toads are nocturnal
Not below freezing in the previous 48 hours (check on this) can be below freezing in past 48 hours; part of data sheet asks this question
Talk about safety
DO NOT ENTER ANY WATER BODIES
Stay at least 5 feet from water’s edge
Recommend monitoring in groups
If alone, tell someone where you will be
Always bring a cell phone
Wear bright clothing
Fill out forms
Be quiet for at least 2 minutes before initiating the monitoring session so frogs and toads acclimate to your presence.
Cup hands around your ears and listen quietly for precisely 3 minutes. Use a watch to time this duration accurately.
Listen to, identify, and remember all breeding calls occurring in the session.
If the monitoring session is interrupted by noise, restart it, including the 2 minute acclimation period. Noises include car horn, loud truck or train passing by.
Immediately following the 3-minute monitoring session, enter the start and stop times on the Datasheet.
List all species heard during the monitoring session and rate their calling intensity. If uncertain about a species identification, do not report it.
If no calls were heard during the monitoring session, enter “No Calls Heard” on the Datasheet. Good data documents both the presence and absence of breeding calls.
Click FiledScope
Ask how many people have internet access
If you do not have internet access:
-Or Mail data sheets to
Montgomery County DEP c/o FrogWatch
255 Rockville Pike
Suite 120
Rockville, MD 20850