Computer-assisted photo identification outperforms visible implant elastomers in an endangered salamander, Eurycea tonkawae.

ABSTRACT: Despite recognition that nearly one-third of the 6300 amphibian species are threatened with extinction, our understanding of the general ecology and population status of many amphibians is relatively poor. A widely-used method for monitoring amphibians involves injecting captured individuals with unique combinations of colored visible implant elastomer (VIE). We compared VIE identification to a less-invasive method - computer-assisted photographic identification (photoID) - in endangered Jollyville Plateau salamanders (Eurycea tonkawae), a species with a known range limited to eight stream drainages in central Texas. We based photoID on the unique pigmentation patterns on the dorsal head region of 1215 individual salamanders using identification software Wild-ID. We compared the performanc

SUBMITTER: Bendik NF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3605430 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature