Type: report

Article abstract: An all day workshop was held on August 27, 2002 to review and revise the ongoing monitoring protocol for arroyo toads at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. The revised protocol focuses on monitoring the extent of arroyo toad habitat on base and monitoring the proportion area occupied (PAO) of arroyo toad habitat by arroyo toad tadpoles and egg masses. Potential arroyo toad habitat will be divided into approximately 50 blocks and each block will be subdivided into 5-7 sites approximately 200 meters long depending on the total amount of available habitat on the base. The final number of sites and length of each site will be determined after an assessment of the total amount of suitable habitat is completed. Sites will be surveyed for presence of arroyo toad tadpoles and egg masses in a rotating panel design with an estimated 5 or 6 year rotation. One site in each block will be surveyed every year (permanent), while a second site will be rotated within each block in different years (rotating). Most of these sites will be surveyed a 1-2 times annually after breeding has initiated with the visits occurring approximately one month apart. Eight of the 50 blocks will be considered "intensive" blocks and will be surveyed four times. Table 1. Recommended number of sites per watershed assuming a 5-year rotation. Note: These numbers may be adjusted after the assessment of the amount of suitable habitat on base is complete. In this example, a block is made up of 6 sites: 1 permanent plus 5 rotating sites resulting in a 5 year rotation. * In addition, the eight intensive blocks should be used for short-term studies to refine key components of the protocol including identification of factors associated with the beginning of arroyo toad breeding, quantifying relationships between number of egg masses, number of tadpoles, and number of adults, examining habitat characteristics associated with tadpoles and egg masses, and examining the relationship between amount of time spent searching, habitat structure, and detection rate of tadpoles. Building upon previous pit-tagging work, toads at the 8 intensive sites will also be scanned for existing pit tags in order to evaluate longevity. Additional research recommendations are also discussed but are not included in the monitoring protocol. Elements of the monitoring protocol are summarized in Table 2. In addition to the core elements of the monitoring protocol, additional protocol refinement work