Conserve Wildlife Blog

Posts Tagged ‘new jersey wildlife’

Encouraging Development for Tiger Salamanders

Thursday, February 29th, 2024

By Christine Healy, Wildlife Biologist

Close up of an adult tiger salamander.

In today’s world, it’s pretty difficult to think of a species that scientists are not concerned about in the face of climate change. The reasons are many and diverse, but in a state where 42% of municipalities are considered “coastal”, it comes as no surprise that sea level rise (SLR) is a big threat here- both to people and wildlife. When the average person imagines which species are most likely to be impacted by SLR, it’s likely that beach nesters, including piping plovers, immediately come to mind. Afterall, they occupy the same environments that recreationalists are worried about losing. Valid point- but they are not the only ones. Eastern tiger salamanders, one of New Jersey’s rarest amphibians, also make the list. 

Like our other mole salamanders (spotted, blue-spotted, marbled, and Jefferson), Eastern tiger salamanders require access to temporary wetlands, called vernal pools, to successfully breed. The ephemeral nature of these water bodies is critical because it eliminates fish as potential egg predators and thus increases larval survival. While these salamanders spend much of the year in forested landscapes, adults return annually to their natal pools (in most cases) to reproduce. High fidelity to these sites can put these amphibians in danger if development occurs within their migration corridors or changes transpire within the pools themselves. 

(more…)

Staff Spotlight

Wednesday, January 24th, 2024

Emmy Casper, Wildlife Biologist

Emmy Casper, Wildlife Biologist

Emmy grew up on the Jersey Shore, where she developed a strong passion for coastal wildlife conservation. In 2020 she joined CWF as a beach-nesting bird technician and spent three seasons monitoring populations of piping plovers, American oystercatchers, and colonial bird species at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. During her third season, she served as the crew leader and helped lead the first official season of bird monitoring on Horseshoe Island. Since joining the full-time staff in 2022, Emmy has traded the Atlantic Coast for the Delaware Bayshore, where she manages CWF’s new American oystercatcher and salt marsh restoration projects. She holds a B.S. and an M.S. in Biology from Fordham University, where she conducted her thesis on the molecular analysis of shorebird diet during spring migration in Jamaica Bay.

What’s your favorite species and why?

It’s almost impossible to choose, but piping plovers are so special to me. They jump-started my career in conservation, and their resilience in the face of many challenges inspires me to persevere in my own life.

What’s the most surprising or unusual thing that has happened to you while doing field work?

I was pretty flabbergasted when a piping plover pair laid a seven-egg nest during my first field season at Holgate. The pair’s original four-egg nest had been flooded, so we re-assembled it with the hope that the birds would resume incubating the eggs. Instead, the pair decided to lay three new eggs in the same nest! Unfortunately, the eggs were depredated before they could hatch, but I think a brood with 7+ chicks would have been a sight to behold.

Proof of the 7-egger plover nest
(more…)

New Jersey’s Beach Nesting Birds Struggle in 2023

Monday, December 11th, 2023

by Todd Pover, Senior Wildlife Biologist

This year was an especially challenging one for beach nesting birds in New Jersey. Most of the species fared poorly on a statewide basis, and even though they can withstand periodic down years, several trends are worrisome to biologists and wildlife managers.

The state’s piping plover breeding population remained the same as last year with 118 pairs, which is also about the same as the long-term average since federal listing. However, productivity was just 0.53 chicks fledged per pair, the second lowest since federal listing and well below the levels believed necessary to grow the population. Of particular concern, productivity has been low for three consecutive years after a number of years of above average success. Productivity is one of the main drivers of population (up or down) and small populations are especially sensitive to even small changes, so it is expected that the population is likely to drop over the next few years, further stagnating plover recovery in the state.

Meanwhile, there was a record number (53) of breeding pairs of piping plovers at Holgate, a unit of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, that is monitored by CWF through a cooperative agreement with the Refuge. This positive trend, almost a four-fold increase has occurred since Superstorm Sandy enhanced the habitat for plovers at the site, has been an ongoing highlight for the state in recent years. Nonetheless, it has not been accompanied by similar increases elsewhere in the state, so it has not led to any statewide recovery. Productivity for the large concentration of piping plovers at Holgate was above the statewide average in 2023 but the lowest level over the past decade, so it was also a down year for this site, where expectations typically run high that it will help boost statewide productivity.

(more…)

A Return to Horseshoe Island

Thursday, November 16th, 2023

by Todd Pover, Senior Wildlife Biologist

This marked the second year that CWF worked in close partnership with New Jersey Fish and Wildlife and Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (EBF) to monitor and manage birds on Horseshoe Island. The island, located just offshore on the southern edge of the Little Egg Inlet, has quickly become one of the most important sites for beach nesting birds in the state, as well as a critical resting and feeding site for migratory shorebirds.

Horseshoe Island hosted the state’s largest black skimmer (state endangered) colony this year with just over 1400 total adults or about 700 pairs. Although flooding and some avian predators impacted the overall nesting success at the island, at least 225 skimmer chicks “fledged” from the site. Horseshoe’s skimmer fledglings, along with those from nearby Holgate, a unit of EBF, and especially from Stone Harbor Point in Cape May County, made 2023 a moderately good productivity year for black skimmers in New Jersey.

A small portion of the black skimmer and royal tern colony on Horseshoe Island.
Photo credit: Teri Bowers
(more…)

Expanding CWF’s Turtle Portfolio

Wednesday, November 15th, 2023

by Christine Healy, Wildlife Biologist

Etiquette tells us that we shouldn’t have a favorite child. I sometimes wonder if the same rules apply to biologists with regard to our study species. If so, my manners fall woefully short, at least where reptiles are concerned.

Conserve Wildlife Foundation has been partnering with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on bog turtle conservation initiatives for years. We do this using a multi-faceted approach. We connect landowners with qualifying habitat with federal funding opportunities and technical support that can preserve and restore significant wetlands. We assist the state and nonprofit partners with visual surveys to better understand the status of historic populations. Finally, we suit up with USFWS personnel each fall and winter to remove invasive species and woody vegetation that are shading out nesting spots, rendering bogs and fens inhospitable to turtles. We applied to continue this work for the next few years but decided to shake things up a bit by adding in tasks targeting the protection of the bog turtle’s closest living relative… the wood turtle, a state threatened species that is currently under consideration for federal listing. 

CWF biologist Christine Healy with a wood turtle, found during a spring survey.
Photo Credit: Connor Zrinko
(more…)