Conserve Wildlife Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Science’

Researching Beach Nesting Birds at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

Thursday, July 2nd, 2015
Conserve Wildlife Foundation Partners with National Wildlife Refuge to Collect Data on Beach Nesting Birds

Posted by: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Manager

 

Piping Plover Nest

Piping Plover Nest

Did you know barrier island beach makes up approximately 2% of the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge? This area is the most productive for beach nesting birds. The federally threatened piping plover and other species such as least tern, black skimmer, and a species of special concern, the American oystercatcher, nest on Holgate Beach. The refuge closes the Holgate unit from April 1st to September 1st every year to provide undisturbed nesting habitat for these important species.

 

Not only is it important to protect nesting habitat for the birds, but it is also important to provide education opportunities to the public. Each summer, the refuge relies on volunteers during the summer months to talk to the public about the beach closure and bird management, and answer any general questions about Forsythe Refuge.

 

This year, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey partnered with the refuge to assist in the collection of nesting data. “In the past, refuge staff has done all the beach nesting bird monitoring,” said Refuge Manager Virginia Rettig. “This year we are very excited to be working with our partners to monitor the population status of these birds. The work they are doing, combined with the data they collect, will improve our understanding of beach nesting birds on Forsythe Refuge.”

 

CWF Field Technician Jesse Amesbury tracking piping plovers at Holgate with his scope.

CWF Field Technician Jesse Amesbury tracking piping plovers at Holgate with his scope.

“Holgate provides highly suitable undisturbed natural habitat for at-risk beach nesting birds, especially piping plover – a rarity along the otherwise highly developed and recreated New Jersey Coast,” said Todd Pover, CWF Beach Nesting Bird Project Manager. “Maximizing productivity at this site is a high priority for regional and range-wide recovery efforts.”

 

Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge protects more than 47,000 acres of sensitive wetlands, marshes, and coastal habitats along the New Jersey shore. It is one of the most important habitats for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds east of the Mississippi River.

Learn more:

–Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s Beach Nesting Bird Project
–Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge

 

 

 

 

Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Manager for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

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Jersey’s Newest Frog: The “Chuckling” Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog

Thursday, March 5th, 2015
“Chucks” and Occasional Groans of New Species Caught on Video by Former CWF Biologist

Conserve Wildlife Foundation is excited to celebrate Amphibian Awareness Month during March 2015! Follow us on social media and be sure to check your email (sign up for our list) for weekly stories on the amphibians of the Garden State and our work to protect them. 

By: Lindsay McNamara, Communications Coordinator

Photo: New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

Photo: New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife

Remember back in late October of 2014 when word quickly spread about a new frog species in New Jersey? The Atlantic Coast leopard frog is mint-gray to light olive green with medium to dark spots. The frog has been found along the Delaware River and Bayshore, along Atlantic Ocean coastline, in the Meadowlands and on Staten Island.

 

Did you know this Jersey frog groans and makes cough-like sounds or “chucks” rather than typical croaking sounds? Listen closely while you watch the video, the sounds originally caught on film by former Conserve Wildlife Foundation biologist Brian Zarate, below to hear the Atlantic Coast leopard frog’s distinctive call:

 

 

Although other leopard frog species, like the southern leopard frog and northern leopard frog, have been recognized and found in New Jersey’s wetlands for some time, researchers only recently gained the ability to use technology such as DNA and digital bioacoustic analysis to present thorough evidence that the Atlantic Coast leopard frog was a unique species.

 

In March 2003, CWF Biologist Brian Zarate and other scientists volunteered to survey salamanders at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Morris County, New Jersey. As the biologists gathered in the parking lot, they heard an unfamiliar sounding frog. The group captured the frog and took photos, reasoning that it wasn’t the common southern leopard frog, and that might be a northern leopard frog released into the wild.

 

Zarate, now a zoologist with the state’s Division of Fish and Wildlife, moved on to other projects, but in 2007 he checked in on the strange frogs. He heard them near the same Great Swamp parking lot. He posted a video of the frog on YouTube.

 

Four years later, the group returned to Great Swamp, and found the strange frog there and in several other places too. Through the partnership of Zarate, Jeremy Feinberg, a Rutgers doctoral candidate, and Eric Kiviat, a collaborator with Hudsonia Ltd., and the implementation of new technology, it was proven that the strange frog was indeed a different species of leopard frog, the Atlantic Coast leopard frog.

 

Starting this spring, Endangered & Nongame Species Program biologists, including Zarate, will begin a two-year project mapping the potential range of the Atlantic Coast leopard frog. Biologists and volunteers alike will comb New Jersey’s wetlands in search of evidence of the frog and collect data on its habitat preferences.

 

Looking to report a possible sighting of an Atlantic Coast Leopard Frog? Contact Brian Zarate at brian.zarate@dep.state.nj.us.

 

Learn more:

 

Lindsay McNamara is the Communications Coordinator for Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey.

 

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Why are Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) Important to Wildlife Conservation?

Monday, December 15th, 2014

By: Stephanie Feigin, Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey Wildlife Ecologist

Photo: atlantaschoolguide.com

Photo: atlantaschoolguide.com

S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education is an important learning tool for today’s students. It encourages critical thinking, problem management skills, and uses real world applications to promote innovation. S.T.E.M. has become a new way to prepare students for the future and help them succeed in this new information-based and highly technological society.

 

As technology continues to become more accessible to the masses and continues to play a major role in the lives of the general public, wildlife conservationists have begun to utilize these innovative advancements to reach new audiences on growing social networking platforms, and educating the public through new technologies on the importance of protecting wildlife.

 

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey (CWF) uses new media and technology, such as live webcams and interactive story maps, to educate the public and advance our work to protect New Jersey’s rare wildlife. In an effort to highlight the importance of S.T.E.M. education in the classroom, Conserve Wildlife Foundation has launched a new Species on the Edge 2.0 Multimedia Contest.

 

Species on the Edge 2.0 is the first contest that CWF has specifically designed to focus on S.T.E.M. education. We hope that this focus will engage and teach high school students about science and New Jersey’s rare wildlife, while also capitalizing on students’ fast-growing expertise with technology. This contest invites all New Jersey high school students to submit an original video, application, podcast, digital graphic design, webpage, or other multimedia project showing why wildlife protection is important in New Jersey. The contest is free to enter, with prizes up to $1,000 in scholarship money thanks to our sponsor PSE&G.

 

All Species on the Edge 2.0 Multimedia Contest entries are due before April 30, 2015. For more information and to download your contest kit visit: www.ConserveWildlifeNJ.org/Education/Edge2.0.

 

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The Species on the Edge 2.0 Multimedia Contest expands on the success of Conserve Wildlife Foundation’s existing Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest for fifth graders. The contest is open to all New Jersey fifth graders in public, private, or home schools. It is a great way to engage and excite students into learning about New Jersey’s over 80 endangered and threatened wildlife species. Educators praise the contest for encompassing inter-disciplinary teaching using science, language arts, computer technology, art, and geography. Judging takes place in March. Winners are notified by the end of April.

 

Entries for the Species on the Edge Art & Essay Contest are due before January 31, 2015. For more information and to download your contest kit visit: http://www.ConserveWildlifeNJ.org/education/edge/.

 

 

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