Summary

Description

This is a summary of 2010 the herp inventory conducted at Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge. Established in 2002 the Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge CRNWR is one of the newest in the refuge system. Located in Bibb County, AL CRNWR encompasses approximately 3,414 acres and includes an approximate 5 mile reach of the Cahaba River. The objective of the inventory is to provide as complete a list as possible of the species present on the CRNWR, where they occur, and their habitat associations. This body of information will establish baseline data which may be used to document faunal shifts following any future land management actions. Drift fence arrays and coverboard transects were selected as two primary techniques for sampling. A total of 49 species 51 of the potentials list were documented within the refuge boundary and includes 11 frogs and toads 4 families, 10 salamanders 3 families, seven turtles 3 families, six lizards 4 families, and 15 snakes 5 families. Amphibians and reptiles were collected from six terrestrial communities, four natural and two anthropogenic, and the river. Highest diversity 27 species was noted from the Lower Piedmont Chestnut Oak Forest, while the Sand Laurel Oak Upland Forest was the least specious with only 5 species.