03/11/2021
Just concluded an epic four days of checking pitfall traps in the early mornings to monitor amphibians, especially endangered California tiger salamanders, on the beautiful Fort Ord National Monument between Monterey and Salinas. Our group of volunteers included graduate students, naturalists, and some very enthusiastic kids. We didn't see any CTSes but did find chorus frogs, western toads, Ensatina salamanders, shrews, and many nifty arthropods like centipedes, big spiders, roly polies, and beetles, and one astonishing 14" - long nematode. It was great fun and I learned a lot about Central California's native flora and fauna and enjoyed sharing in the children's joy of discovery.
After Wednesday's trap checking, I said yes to a rare adventure by following the official botanist on closed roads into the backcountry to meet the Peruvian shepherds and goatherds and their. These browsing herbivores are helping to control invasive plants so the native bunch-grasses and wildflowers can thrive. It was stunningly beautiful, after heavy rain and hail, to see parts of the reserve that are remote and rarely visited. From the hilltops I could see Monterey Bay and in the valleys it felt like we were hundreds of miles from any town.
Huge thanks to Bruce Delgado, botanist with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Mayor of the City of Marina, for facilitating the continued monitoring of this study site after a PhD student from UCLA finished his work. Here's hoping the data helps to support wild native tiger salamanders. The experience definitely helped nurture the next couple of generations of conservationists.
