Why entering data matters - two stories from the Northwest

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jonathan
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Why entering data matters - two stories from the Northwest

Post by jonathan »

Now that the NAHERP database is about to get its 60th researcher database request, I wanted to tell two short stories as a reminder for why getting our data in can help.

In early 2008, I was approached by researchers from the University of British Columbia. They were doing a study of the genetics of Long-toed Salamanders and were asking if I could provide them with any locales. The researcher had just seen me post a Long-toed Salamander from Columbia County, Oregon. Unfortunately, at that point I only knew about two populations. The database wasn't much help for them - in all of the Northwest, there was only ONE long-toed salamander entry other than the one I had just posted! (hat tip to Joshua Wallace for that entry.)

Fast-forward to today - we have 55 records from Oregon, 33 from Washington, 2 from Idaho and 3 from Canada. If only we had gotten that data in earlier, we could have been a lot of help!

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Second story - in January 2012, we had our first official database request for the Northwest. A wildlife biologist doing a species distribution model for Western Fence Lizards asked for all of our data on fence lizards in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. At that point, we only had 18 records to give, but the biologist told us that even though those records were few, they were important to include.

Fast-forward again - only 2.5 years later, we've improved to 106 records in Washington/Oregon/Idaho! Of course, that doesn't come close to what we could have if we just entered 1 fence lizard in each locale that we find them in, but it's still a huge improvement from what we had before. If we'd started getting that data in a little earlier, we could have been a lot more help.

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The point of this post isn't to chide ourselves for missed opportunities, but just to highlight how much a difference even the little things can make. Long-toed Salamanders and Western Fence Lizards aren't flashy species, but we can provide real help to researchers working on those species, and you never know when a better genetic understanding can improve our knowledge of a species, or when a better habitat distribution model is needed to understand a previously common species that suddenly starts becoming hard to find.

In other parts of the USA, NAHERP data has been used for studies on ranavirus reservoirs among wood frogs, the impacts on local species caused by African clawed frogs (as well as similar studies involving Mediterranean house geckos and non-native turtles), genetic diversity among leopard frogs, pattern variation among red-backed salamanders, habitat niche modeling in the Great Plains, and forecasting potential climate change impact of species in the Great Lakes. It's been used to help build the distribution maps for herps in many states, counties, and federal regions, to help measure the impact of new energy projects, to contribute to Sensitive Species decision-making process in California and the Species Conservation Status in Utah as well as to assess the status of several other species, to develop conservation plans for several regions, and to create recovery plans for potentially threatened species such as diamondback terrapins, pond turtles, and several garter snakes.

Enter in the data that you can get, and you can help somebody out, and maybe make a positive difference for the animals in the long run.
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Brian Hubbs
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Re: Why entering data matters - two stories from the Northwe

Post by Brian Hubbs »

I'm with you Jonathan. Some have joked that my records are mostly utas, but in CA I only have 290 utas...as opposed to 1,099 fence lizards. :o Neither number is actually high enough yet either...I need to step up my lizard documentation and get everyone else to photograph all the lizards they see too. Important records do not have to be only snakes...or endangered species. This is a mapping project...let's map it all... :)
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