Daytime Amphibian Surveys in Three Protected Areas in the Western Great Lakes

We performed pilot monitoring of amphibian populations at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (APIS) in 2006, Pictured Rocks NationalLakeshore (PIRO) in 2007, and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SLBE ) in both 2006 and 2007. We performed daytime surveys (using multiple methods) at numerous sites in each of the three parks. We detected 10 amphibian and two reptilian species at APIS, nine amphibian and four reptilian species at SLBE , and nine amphibian and one reptilian species at PIRO. No one daytime survey technique appeared to be superior to any other. Our work resulted in two new species records (Gray Treefrog and Green Frog) for Basswood Island at APIS