1 Southwest Chapter Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Annual Meeting Marriott Hotel Tucson University Park 10-13 August 2011 Year of the Turtle Conservation and Management of Arid-land Reptiles and Amphibians www.swparc.org 2 2011 Annual Meeting Organizing Committee and Functions Oversight: Larry Jones Venue: 2010 steering committee, Trevor Hare, Larry Jones Program Agenda: Larry Jones, steering committee, planning committee Website: Tom Giermakowski Save-the-date announcement: Larry Jones Program booklet: Larry Jones, Tom Giermakowski Registration (pre- and during meeting): Janet Jones, Larry Jones Registration form/costs: Larry Jones, Trevor Hare, and planning committee Name tags and stickers: Janet Jones Conservation and Management session: Larry Jones Year of the Turtle session: Cristina Jones Workshops: Larry Jones, Jim Rorabaugh, plus other leads Vendors and Booths: Esther Nelson, Kary Schlick, Polly Conrad Silent and live auction: Esther Nelson, Priya Nanjappa Call for Posters, Posters: Tom Giermakowski Spanish translation: Participants or Tom Giermakowski Social Events: Doug Duncan, Trevor Hare SunDay FunDay (at the AZ-Sonora Desert Museum): Stephane Poulin Tee Shirts: Dennis Caldwell Year-of-the-Turtle Booth: Brian Aucone Audiovisual: Tom Giermakowski, Sandy Volentine Sponsors: Esther Nelson, Kary Schlick Liaisons, CRHSD V: Trevor Hare, Cristina Jones, Heidi Flugstad Other: Debbie Sebesta, Glenn Frederick 2010-2011 SW PARC Steering Committee Brian Aucone (Sr. co-chair) Larry Jones (Jr. co-chair) Rob Lovich (outgoing co-chair) Tom Giermakowski Jason Jones Erin Muths Esther Nelson Erika Nowa Kary Schlick 2011 Tucson Annual Meeting Program design, layout, text and photographs by Larry Jones, Coronado National Forest. Photographs © Larry Jones 2011. Front Cover (clockwise): Green Toad ( Anaxyrus debilis ), Eastern Collared Lizard ( Crotaphytus collaris ), Sonoran Coralsnake ( Micruroides euryxanthus ), Sonora Mud Turtle ( Kinosternon sonoriense ), Bezy’s Night Lizard ( Xantusia bezyi ), Saddled Leaf-nosed Snake ( Phyllorhynchus browni ). All photographs taken on-site in southern Arizona. 3 Vendors and Booths Bob and Sherry Ashley, Eco/Chiricahua Desert Museum Dennis Caldwell, wildlife artist, Tucson Herpetological Society Brian Aucone, Year of the Turtle Paul Hamilton, Reptile and Amphibian Ecology International Tom or Cristina Jones, Arizona Game and Fish Department Stacey Sekscienski, Oklahoma City Zoo Carianne Funicelli Campbell, RECON Environmental Financial Support Provided by: In-kind support provided by: 4 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Tuesday, 9 August 1600-2000: Registration. FOYER. 1800-1900: Ice-breaker (informal). ATRIUM. Wednesday, 10 August 0700: Registration. FOYER. 0700: Vendor, poster, and live auction set-up. CANYON A, B, C (check in at Registration). 0800-1700: Presentations and meetings, MADERA ROOM. Moderator: Brian Aucone 0800: Welcome (Brian Aucone) 0815: This is PARC and SW PARC (Priya Nanjappa, Terry Riley, and Brian Aucone) 0845: Keynote Address by Cecil Schwalbe: A Kid in the Candy Store: Herpin’ the American Southwest 0945: What we hope to accomplish and how (Larry Jones) 1000-1030: Break. CANYON B and C. 1030: Working Group break-outs (review status, report after lunch) • Outreach to México (Rob Lovich) • Outreach to enthusiasts (Jason Jones) • Southwest Priority Species (Larry Jones, Tom Giermakowski) • Year of the Lizard (Priya Nanjappa, Terry Riley) 1130-1300: Lunch. On your own (within easy walking distance). 1300: Working Group reports, state reports (if needed) 1400: SW PARC Biz (Brian Aucone, Larry Jones) • National PARC Biz (Priya Nanjappa, Terry Riley) • General SW PARC business meeting • Alison Haskell Award • Elections • Next meeting discussion 5 1500-1520: Break. CANYON B and C. Special Session: Conservation and Management Issues Facing Arid-land Amphibians and Reptiles. MADERA ROOM. Moderator: Larry Jones 1520: Still the Wild West? Historic perspectives on southwestern herpetofauna (Robert Lovich) 1540: Impacts of urbanization and grazing on herpetofaunal communities of the Sonoran Desert: separating myths from realities (Brian Sullivan) 1600: Impacts of energy development on herpetofauna (Terry Riley) 1620: How will climate change affect functional groups of arid land-adapted reptiles and amphibians and their habitats? (Larry Jones and Gregg Garfin) 1640: The lessening stream: changing habitat for amphibians and reptiles in aquatic and riparian systems (Dale Turner) Poster Presentations Research and monitoring of amphibians on the Lower Colorado River (Allen Calvert , Taylor Cotton) Conservation recommendations for Regal Horned Lizard ( Phrynosoma solare ) in urban Tucson, Arizona (Carianne F. Campbell and Philip C. Rosen) Do differences in release area habitat features affect post-translocation movement? A case study on Desert Tortoises ( Gopherus agassizii ) (Jennifer Germano, Kimberly Field, Kelly Wallace, Lindsay Perry, Paula Kahn, and Ron Swaisgood) Tracking changes in lizard assemblages at an ecotone in southeastern Arizona (Lawrence L. C. Jones and Hunter Winsor) Evening Festivities 1800: Poster social. CANYON B and C 1900: Social. CANYON B and C. 2000: Live Auction (Priya Nanjappa, auctioneer extraordinaire ). CANYON A. 6 Thursday, 11 August 0700: Registration, vendor set-up. FOYER. All presentations and meetings in MADERA ROOM. Special Session: Conservation and Management Issues facing Arid-land Amphibians and Reptiles (continued). Moderator: Polly Conrad 0800: Invasive species (Tom Jones) 0820: Amphibian disease surveillance: global and western USA progress (Erin Muths and Dede Olson) Special Session: Engaging and Interacting with the Public Moderator: Brian Aucone 0840: Collection and environmental ethics (John Romero) 0900: Challenges and findings in regulating the use of herpetofauna in the U.S. (Priya Nanjappa, and Polly Conrad ) 0920: Promoting Flat-tailed Horned Lizard conservation through community involvement in the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve (E. Soto- Montoya, Alejandra Calvo Fonseca , and Osvel Hinojosa Huerta) 0940-1000: Break. CANYON B and C. 1000: Herpetoculture and the role of conservation of native species in zoological gardens (Kim Lovich and Stephane Poulin) 1020: A new web-based tool for citizen scientists to record observations of herpetofauna (David Parizek, Phil Rosen , Kevin Bonine, Brian Powell, and Julia Fonseca) 1040: Organized discussion, open forum from the preceding sessions (and beyond) to discuss establishing new working groups (tasks, products, leads) and champions 1130-1300: Lunch. On your own. 1300: Break-out groups for all working groups: identify products, tasks, reporting, and schedules. 7 Special Session: Year of the Turtle, Southwest Style Moderator: Cristina Jones 1350: Year of the Turtle: a SW PARC update and Overview (Brian Aucone, Priya Nanjappa, and Terry Riley) 1400: A quantitative analysis of the state of the knowledge of the turtles of the United States and Canada: how much do we really know (Jeffrey Lovich and J.R. Ennen) 1420: New directions in the recovery of the Mojave (Agassiz’s) Desert Tortoise (Roy Averill-Murray) 1440-1500: Break 1500: Species assemblage and community structuring among ectothermic aquatic vertebrates with an emphasis on turtles (J. Daren Riedle , Richard T. Kazmaeir, and Wes B. Littrell) 1520: Ornate Box Turtle Watch: using citizen science to collect data and increase awareness of a nongame program (Audrey K. Owens and Cristina Jones) 1540: Mexican tortoise project: status of a neglected population (Taylor Edwards, Mercy Vaughn, Philip R. Rosen, Alice E. Karl, Robert Murphy, Kristin H. Berry, Ma. Cristina Meléndez Torres, Martín Francisco Villa Andrade, and Fausto Méndez De la Cruz) 1600: Biology and conservation of sea turtles of the Gulf of California (Jeffrey Seminoff) 1620: Annual Meeting Wrap-up (Brian Aucone, Larry Jones) 1700-1800: Steering committee meeting Evening Festivities No formal plans! Relax! Watch Oprah! Go road riding! Take a hot bath! Ride a steer! Sing with the frogs! Adopt a Morafka’s Desert Tortoise! Wade in a cattle tank! Noose a lizard! You decide! Gila Monster digging for turtle eggs, Boyce-Thompson Arboretum 8 Friday, 12 August: SW PARC Field Workshops Your name tag will have the field workshop sticker showing which trip you signed up for. We will meet in the atrium (lobby) of the hotel at 0700 h then separate into the appropriate groups. We’ll arrange carpools and head out for a jolly good time! Everyone gets a box lunch and small bottle of water (but bring more) Sabino Canyon and the Santa Catalina Mountains (Erika Nowak, Larry Jones, Paul Hamilton, Cristina Jones, Trevor Persons, Abi King, Audrey Owens). Huachuca Mountains (Jim Rorabaugh, Brooke Gebow, Glenn Frederick, Tom Jones, Mike Sredl, Christina Akins). Saturday, 13 August: SW PARC Field Workshops Pajarito Mountains, Peña Blanca (Larry Jones, Debbie Sebesta, Christina Akins, John Schaefer, Audrey Owens, Tom Jones). Sabino Canyon and the Santa Catalina Mountains (Paul Hamilton, Cristina Jones, Trevor Persons, Caleb Loughran, Abi King). Huachuca Mountains (Jim Rorabaugh, Brooke Gebow, Glenn Frederick, Mike Sredl). Sunday, 14 August: SunDay FunDay Optional activities (except the photo workshop) for those staying over or arriving for Current Research in Herpetofauna of the Sonoran Desert V. Travel is on your own. Carpool, carpool, carpool! Free admission to the World-famous Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum! Don’t miss the Ghost Cow social at The Hut (famous for the giant