Bull Neck Swamp Herpetafauna Research
FER Home : The Department : Bull Neck Swamp
Since 2005, Stan Hutchens (Advisor Dr. Christopher S. DePerno) has been conducting research at Bull Neck Swamp to determine the reptile and amphibian species diversity. North Carolina has a 
bountiful and varied diversity of reptiles and amphibians with the wetlands of Bull Neck Swamp being no exception. Eleven capture techniques were employed to sample the species diversity and statistical analyses were used to determine differences in diversity between the four Natural Heritage preserves and the manageable, or usable, habitats. After two years of research, 32 species of reptile and amphibian were captured. Preliminary results reveal that most species of reptiles and amphibians are ubiquitous throughout the swamp, suggesting forest applications in manageable areas would have no great impact on species diversity. Also, Bull Neck Swamp is home to several unique species including rainbow snakes (Farancia erytrogramma), an elusive snake that feeds exclusively on American eels (Anguilla rostrata) in a delicate ecological interaction. The decline in eel populations and their possible addition to the endangered species list encourages conservation action within Bull Neck Swamp to protect eels and their rare predator. Visit the Species List section of the Bull Neck Swamp website to see a list and images of reptiles and amphibians Stan has captured at Bull Neck Swamp!
Research Presentations
Efficacy of sampling techniques for surveying the community of reptiles and amphibians in a pocosin wetland.
Presented at:
The Wildlife Society (TWS) Annual Meeting; Anchorage, AK
North Carolina TWS Annual Meeting; Hendersonville, NC
SE Partners for Amphibians and Reptiles (PARC); Chattenooga, TN
NC PARC; Greensborough, NC
Back to Current Research at Bull Neck Swamp
Efficacy of sampling techniques for surveying the community of reptiles and amphibians in a pocosin wetland.
Hutchens, S. J.*, C. S. DePerno, and K. H. Pollock. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695.
Poster Abstract
Concern about reptile and amphibian population declines has increased globally. This concern has prompted efforts to inventory the presence or absence of species, but often this research employs only two or three different sampling techniques. This can greatly underestimate species richness because detection probabilities could be zero for some techniques. During a reptile and amphibian species inventory at Bull Neck Swamp, a 2,428ha pocosin wetland in Washington County, North Carolina, eleven different sampling measures were employed. Pitfall and funnel traps were used widely as a passive sampling technique for most reptile and amphibian species. Coverboard arrays were placed in the driest areas to detect small-bodied reptiles and caudates that could evade and escape pitfall and funnel traps. Visual encounter surveys (VES) were conducted to sample sedentary species. To increase the assessment of anuran species, evening auditory surveys were randomized and standardized. Additionally, PVC piping was used to sample hylid frogs. Basking traps and line transects were used to assess turtle species, while minnow and crayfish traps targeted aquatic caudates. Lastly, road searches were conducted in late afternoons and early evenings as an opportunistic method to target species active during these times. Species detection with sampling methodologies of VES surveys, coverboard arrays, and drift fence arrays with pitfall and funnel traps resulted in detection of 21 species. However, by using all eleven sampling methodologies and opportunistic encounters, species richness increased to 32. Results from this study support the use of multiple methodologies as an important element of inventory studies to accurately assess reptile and amphibian species richness and abundances.