# Best way to open your property up to research



## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

I bought this property, mostly sight unseen, because of it`s location: the diversity of wildlife, including the most species of amphibians on the list of what occurs here, w/ every species represented on my property. I know, I never thought of the possibility of letting something out, but test for all I can and sterilize waste as I can by incinerating. I have always wanted to do chytrid testing on the local population, but havent` got around to it. I observe and learn all I can, making note of the rain more than anything as it affects my ability to farm, the cycles of the frogs and my water comes from a well, which does dry up. I have done soil testing, water testing and could do a lot more. I also site vernal pools and manage my property according to what I find as critical habitat for each species.
One thing that scared me is that one of the wildlife refuges I frequent displayed a mass die off last spring. W/out thinking of it, we drove back to the house and never sterilized our boots after turtlin, just the mud on the tires wouldve been bad enough. It makes me want to go to the next level from being a watchdog and observational scientist to getting a better grasp of what`s really going on here and getting back towards academia. I`ve often though of putting up pitfall traps and recording data but don`t want to start anything till I have a goal instead of just recording lengths, weights sexes, etc. I`ve also started to note the first calling and breeding of each species. Mostly fun stuff to date. 
I figure the local colleges would be the first place to go and SCA, which mentored me, would also be a good contact. I do plan on volunteering at the wildlife refuges and see what projects they have going on. Mostly it`s for the mammals and waterfowl and 1 turtle researcher I know of.
Anyone have any other ideas? I`m planning on buying the other 60 acres of floodplain between Tonawanda creek and Murder creek confluences, on the edge of Erie Co. You can get good details of the property by the weather channel satelite or google earthing my address.

Thanks, Aaron


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

contact your local fish and wildlife dept. to see what kind of projects they have going on.


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## Roadrunner (Mar 6, 2004)

frogparty said:


> contact your local fish and wildlife dept. to see what kind of projects they have going on.


Ahhh, good one I forgot about. I know of a lot of the turtle programs they have going on. Monitoring, tracking etc. because I have friends who work there. I don`t recall any ongoing amphibian projects though. I`ll have to call the office and inquire.
Thanks.


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## frogparty (Dec 27, 2007)

They have a suprising amount of different stuff going on. I was a salmon counter/ dna collector for them, and know at least in washington there are several different groups working on amphibian stuff. Also they do bird surveys, invasive species surveys etc, and jst the option of being able to have access to more private property alwys helps. 
If you are concerned about sterilization, at wdfw we use pvp iodine to sterilize waders and such between sites and hatcheries


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## stemcellular (Jun 26, 2008)

Hey Aaron,

If you are willing, try talking to one of the local environmental colleges (Green Mountain College in VT, my alma mater, comes to mind) to gauge interest in hosting a spring term/summer block course designed to study your property (i.e. Block Courses: Green Mountain College) Students would study all disciplines (ecology, biology, land management, design, wildlife management, etc.) during the course and would be able to generate a significant body of data for future use. Could be a really fantastic experience for you and the students. Hit me up if you would like to know more. I did this one back in the day - The Hudson River: Green Mountain College


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## Otis (Apr 16, 2006)

frogfarm said:


> I`ve also started to note the first calling and breeding of each species. Mostly fun stuff to date.


Not sure what kind of land you have Aaron, but if you have a decent amount of water the Marsh Monitoring program is a great organization that also monitors bird species as well. 

Are you already part of this? 
Marsh Monitoring Program Amphibians 

If not, plots for monitoring are usually pre-established, but since you own so much land I doubt they would have a problem adding your plot. You pretty much record what calls you hear, how many frogs you think you hear of that species, and plot the calls/frogs on a map of the land.


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