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Course Title: Wetland Amphibian Assessment

Course Mission: Amphibians are active users of terrestrial and aquatic habitats in wetlands, and with their moist, highly permeable thin skin, their non-shelled gelatinous eggs, and their limited dispersal abilities and limited home ranges, these animals are indicators of ecosystem health in wetlands. This course will train participants in the identification of amphibians that use wetlands, and the natural history of how these species use these habitats. Training will also occur in active and passive methods of both rapid and long term assessment of the occurance and abundance of these species. Assessment results will then be applied to various computational analyses so that the wetland can be quantified in it's environmental health

Course Timeline: 3-day course (25 hrs).  Course will be mixed classroom and field training on all three days.  Course will primarily focus on the St. Anne Wetland sites and the field station, but may include travel to other nearby wetland sites.

Date: May 14-16, 2025 Cost: $800* professional; $400* NKU student; $480* non-NKU student

* Once registered, an invoice will be sent with payment options.

Course Materials: Provided.

Recommended: Peterson's Field guide to Reptiles and Amphibians (3rd or 4th ed), and Dodd, C. K., Jr. 2010. Amphibian Ecology and Conservation, Oxford Univ. Press.

Course Objectives:      

• Ability to id (scientific and common name) and learn characteristics of common wetland amphibian species of the Midwest region from live, preserved, and auditory calls of specimens.
  
• Learn wetland or habitat indicators in wetland where amphibian species can be found·     
  
• learn to examine differences in the natural history, morphology, behavior, and distribution of wetland amphibians, and to identify them visually and by their call.   
  
• Learn field observations, capture techniques and methods of rapid and long-term amphibian assessment     
  
• Learn how to construct rapid assessment survey traps for amphibians, and then use them.  
  
• Learn to rapidly assess a wetland using a standardized (AmphIBI) sampling technique and calculation method.     
  
• Learn to use and analyze data from passive sound recorders that document frog calls throughout the day.    
  
• Practice building reports needed to summarize results.
• Learn online and literature reference materials useful in identification of wetland amphibians.  

Reminder: Dress appropriately for weather and mosquitos. Bring waders if you have them, if not, they will be provided.