Route Creation
Routes are generated in a stratified random block design at USGS Patuxent
Wildlife Research Center. Routes are then distributed to Regional Coordinators.
These roadside routes are then groundtruthed to determine suitability
(not too dangerous, not too noisy to hear) and stop placement. There are
10 stops per route. Two methods of stop placement are permitted: equidistant
stops or stratified by habitat. In equidistant stop placement, each stop
is 0.5 miles apart. When stratified by habitat, the stops are at least
0.5 miles apart and are located at wetland habitats. The wetland habitat
should be appropriate potential habitat (pond, vernal pool, roadside ditch,
etc) but the presence or absence of amphibians should not be used as a
selection factor. Some alteration of the route may occur during groundtruthing,
see Groundtruthing Guidelines for more
information. Stop locations and any route alterations should be shared
with NAAMP to keep route maps accurate and up to date. Once a route has
been groundtruthed and the 10 stops determined the route and stops are
not changed, unless exceptional circumstances occur, see Stop
Inaccessibility, Stop Relocation, and Stop Retirement section of this
document. In addition, some regions may have nonrandom routes that were
created by other methods.
Seasonal Sampling Periods
Each state establishes three or four sampling periods to cover the calling
phenology of its local species. States use three sampling periods, unless an
additional period to target wood frogs is desired. The sampling periods are
created to target the peak vocalization times for early-, mid- and late-season
breeding amphibians and to assist observers in understanding when to collect
data. A state may subdivide into regions and establish different sampling dates
within these regions. Sampling periods may not overlap, but can be separated by
an interval or begin and end on adjoining dates. To maintain regional consistency
as much as feasible, states are provided with sampling periods used in neighboring
states to consult when developing their own sampling periods. States are permitted
to adjust the sampling dates each year to account for an early or late arrival of the
calling season.
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Nightly Sampling Conditions
A survey may begin 30 minutes after sunset or later. No matter what
time a route is started, it should be completed by 1 a.m. Appropriate
sampling conditions are based upon wind, sky, and air temperature conditions.
For most regions the wind code
should be at level 3 or less, but the wind prone Great Plains region
is permitted to sample at level 4 or less. Surveys should not be conducted
during heavy rainfall, but light rainfall is acceptable (sound of the
rain may impair hearing ability).
The air temperature criteria are the minimum allowable temperatures,
varying for each sampling period.
3 Run System |
Minimum Temperature |
Run 1
|
5.6° C (42° F)
|
Run 2
|
10° C (50° F)
|
Run 3
|
12.8° C (55° F)
|
4 Run System |
Minimum Temperature |
Run 1
|
5.6° C (42° F)
|
Run 2
|
5.6° C (42° F)
|
Run 3
|
10° C (50° F)
|
Run 4
|
12.8° C (55° F)
|
A regional program may choose to set higher minimum temperatures based
upon regional phenology information.
Sampling should occur during good frog weather for the
region. For some areas a humid night is sufficient, along with the
above criteria. In southern states and the Great Plains, it is recommended
that the survey occur after a rainfall event.
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Data Collection
Stops are conducted in numerical order, in one night by one observer.
We encourage, but do not require, that one observer conduct all surveys
of a route in a given year. Because some observers have assistants
who may also wish to collect data, multiple observers are instructed
to each fill out their own datasheet, separately and independently.
One observer is the official recorder of the route whose data will
be entered into the NAAMP database. All datasheets are returned to
the Regional Coordinator for archival purposes. This one observer
per datasheet rule allows each survey conducted to be of equal
effort.
Observers record the time, sky code, and wind code, at the beginning
and end of each survey to verify that the sampling conditions were
met on the evening of the survey. At each stop air temperature is
recorded to verify that sampling conditions were met on the sampling
night; at least eight of the 10 stops must meet temperature guidelines.
For southern states that record air temperature only at the beginning
and end of a survey, both temperature readings must meet these guidelines.
Gulf Coast and Great Plains states require documentation of the last
rainfall event, since possible routes should be conducted within 3
days of rainfall.
At each stop the observer listens for 5 minutes, and then records the
amphibian calling index for each
species heard. The 5 minute listening period has no initial waiting
period. Starting in 2006, the observer also records the number of cars
that passed during the listening period and whether the moon or moonlight
was visible. Car counting may be conducted by an assistant. The
observer indicates whether background noise impaired his/her
ability to hear (most surveys use yes/no checkbox; some have adopted
the noise index developed
by Massachusetts). If there is a major noise disturbance, lasting one
minute or longer, the observer may break the listening period to avoid
sampling during the excessive noise. If such a time out is taken, this
is noted on the datasheet. After the major disturbance ends, the observer
resumes listening for the time remaining. The time out should not be
used for background noise.
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Stop Inaccessibility, Stop Relocation, and Stop Retirement
- Stop Inaccessibility: Temporary stop inaccessibility may occur
for some transient reason (i.e. traffic accident blocks road access).
- If only one stop will be missed, then route can be considered
complete. The observer should write on the datasheet which stop
was missed and note why in the comments section. When entering
the data into the database, mark the checkbox indicating which
stop was missed.
- If more than one stop would be missed, the route should be
re-run on another night.
- Stop Relocation: Stop relocation is when a stop needs to be shifted
to a new location, after the groundtruthing phase has occurred. During
groundtruthing the permanent stop locations are set (see groundtruthing
guidelines). Stop relocations should be a rare event.
- Stop relocation should only occur for safety reasons (i.e.
route was safe before-or appeared to be, but perhaps a homeowner
fired a gun in the air as warning to observer).
- Stops should NOT be relocated because of habitat loss or lack
of calling amphibians at the site.
- To relocate (for safety reasons) a stop, the Regional Coordinator
should use their best judgment on when it is necessary and where
to relocate. If can be moved a short distance away, not impacting
the 0.5 mile apart rule this is preferable. If that is not possible,
then relocate by creating a new stop at the end of the route
and renumbering all the stops. Keep a written record of when,
why, and how a stop relocation occurred. If time permits we
will build into the database a checkbox or someway to indicate
that a route has had some post-groundtruthing alteration. When
data are analyzed all the stops of a route are considered one
unit (the route), so it is okay that the individual stops are
renumbered.
- Stop Retirement: Once the route has been groundtruthed and listening
stations established, these locations are permanent and locations
may not be changed unless a safety issue arises. If habitat destruction
occurs at a listening station, and a local extinction of amphibians
occurs, this is important information. To document habitat destruction
the location should be surveyed for three seasons beyond the destruction
date. After three seasons of non-activity, the listening station
may be retired, and null data will be assumed for this site. A listening
station cannot be retired merely because the wetlands are uninhabited
by anurans. Retired stops should be visited periodically to verify
that no suitable habitat exists, but five minutes of listening is
no longer required.
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Data Review Process
What checks on data collection and data entry will Regional Coordinators
perform each year to ensure all data follows the same review procedures?
Some checks and balances are incorporated into the database design (pop-up
warning boxes, etc), while others are procedures Coordinators will need
to do. These procedures were adopted at the Nashville NAAMP Coordinators
meeting.
- All data entered same way: All datasheets will be entered
"as they appear" and then "checked" for any
errors. This pattern is obvious if the volunteer did the data entry,
the Regional Coordinator would not be able to "check"
the data before it was entered. This pattern should be followed,
even for datasheets that the Regional Coordinator will enter. That
way all data goes through the same data review process. Also, the
database documents changes, so by entering the data "as is"
and then making the correction, the database will have a record
of the correction and why it occurred.
- The only exceptions are "simple obvious errors"
such as the observer wrote 70 degrees and then marked Celsius
(when meant Fahrenheit). The database wouldn't let you enter
such an error anyway, so the Coordinator may make that "correction"
during the data entry process. If any such corrections are made
to data, then these changes should be marked on the datasheet.
The change should be initialed on the datasheet and the reason
noted.
- An example of an error that should not be changed during data
entry is the observer wrote down they heard a species that you
know was highly unlikely they heard (you will handle this during
step three - documenting other changes).
- Manual check of data: After data are entered (by Volunteer
or Coordinator), there will be a manual check - comparing the electronic
entry to the physical datasheet. This will help catch any data entry
errors. If a data entry error is found, the correction is made and
since the data are already in the database, the database will be
able to keep track of who did the change and why. To indicate data
has been through the manual check, the database has a checkbox to
mark when you have completed the review for each run of each route
(see the NAAMP Regional Coordinator Database Guide).
- Documenting other changes: How do we deal with other potential
errors (i.e. misidentification)? Rule: Do not change the data until
you have conferred with the volunteers. If the volunteer agrees
that they made an error, then the entry should be changed using
the edit button. If the volunteer does not agree, then the data
can be flagged as suspect data. In either case it will be documented
by the database as to who is making the change (or marking as questionable)
and why.
- Reasons for changing data will be designated as: observer
error or data entry error.
- Reasons for questionable data will be documented as: questionable
identification, observer uncertainty, outside known distribution,
or outside phenology.
- More details will be available in the NAAMP Regional Coordinator
Database Guide once the Data Review section is completed.
- Deadline: Data entry and review should be completed each
year by October 30th. Review includes the physical comparison of
the datasheet to the data entry, viewing the flags created by the
database, and any subjective questions/review by Coordinator. Having
a deadline for when to finish entry and review is helpful for your
fellow Regional Coordinators. It allows report generation to be
complete: other states may want to use information from neighboring
states in newsletters, etc. Having one deadline allows everyone
know when data should be finalized and available for use. Also,
we can archive the year at that point. You can still enter a late
datasheet after the deadline, it just will not be part of the year-end
reports.
- Datasheet archiving: State/provincial programs should maintain
the original datasheets.
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Observer Training
Volunteers receive training from the State Coordinators. Training covers
how to collect calling survey data following the NAAMP unified protocols and
identification of calling amphibians of their state or region. USGS provides
State Coordinators with a PowerPoint presentation describing the unified protocol
and how to collect data. States provide observers with local distribution and
phenology information, to help observers learn what species are expected in their
area and when they are likely to vocalize. States also provide observers with a
training tape or CD-Rom to help them learn the vocalizations of the frogs and toads
of the state. USGS has also created an on-line training resource, the Frog
Call Quiz, where observers can practice and assess
their frog call identification skills. Starting in 2006, observers need to
take the assessment portion of the Frog Call Quiz (NAAMP Quiz) for their state
or region and meet the detection index requirement each year. See the Frog Call
Quiz section below for more information.
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Frog Call Quiz
USGS has created an on-line resource, the Frog Call Quiz for observer training and
assessment. The Frog Call Quiz includes:
- Frog Call Look-Up - a reference section where users can select species by
common or scientific name to hear example frog calls and a description of the
call. This section also includes state species lists.
- Public Quiz - a practice section where users can select a state and then
receive a 10 question quiz. Each quiz session is unique, as the sound file
library includes several hundred sound files for each state. Each sound file
has one or more calling amphibians and users are asked to identify all species
on the sound file. The public quiz provides immediate feedback and an
opportunity to replay the sound files.
- NAAMP Quiz - an assessment section available for NAAMP participants only.
Login required using the participants Route Number and Observer Number. As with
the Public Quiz, each quiz session is unique and each question has one or more
calling amphibians. The number of questions varies, depending on the number of
species in the state or region. For the NAAMP Quiz, State Coordinators decide
whether to have a state-wide quiz or regional quizzes within their state.
Starting in 2006, observers need to take the assessment portion of the Frog Call Quiz
(NAAMP Quiz) for their state or region and meet the detection index requirement each year.
Observers may retake the NAAMP Quiz as many times as needed to achieve this requirement.
Observers are permitted to use any reference materials that would be used while collecting
data (the quiz is "open book"). The minimum detection index is 65. The detection index is
calculated as ((user's correct responses) - (misidentifications)) / (total possible correct
identifications). Since misidentifications are subtracted from a user's correct responses,
wild guesses may lower the detection index. It is possible to have a negative value.
Ideally observers take the quiz as part of the beginning of their field season, to ensure the
observers are ready to collect data. Since southern states begin surveying in January, the
Frog Quiz considers November and December as belonging to the next year's field season. Thus
an observer can take the 2006 NAAMP Quiz as early as November 1, 2005 and as late as
October 31, 2006.
State Coordinators may create route (and quiz) assignments at any time, but should make sure
to do so for the coming field season before asking volunteers to take the NAAMP Quiz. The
NAAMP Quiz checks the quiz assignments for the current year only and previous assignments
will not enable a user to take the quiz. State Coordinators can refer to the NAAMP
Coordinator Manual for more instructions on creating quiz assignments.
State Coordinators decide whether to have a state-wide NAAMP Quiz or to create regions
within their state. The default is state-wide. States interested in creating regional
quizzes need to provide to USGS: region names, species list for each region, and route
list for each region.
The NAAMP Quiz will include all species of the state or region, unless a species is missing
from the sound file library. The number of questions in a state or regional quiz must be
equal to or greater than the number of species. For each quiz session, the program selects
sound files based on the species list of the state (or region). Each state (or region) has
several hundred sound files. Sound files are randomly selected to provide a variety of
species. Rare species are treated the same as more common species and may appear more frequently
on the quiz than what is expected on survey nights.
Data will not be used for population trend analyses or be publicly available unless the
observer has met quiz requirements. Observers are expected to annually meet the detection
index requirements. For observers who met the requirements in the previous year but were
unable to take the quiz in the current year, their data will still be used in analyses for
both years. Data will not be used for population trend analyses or be publicly available in
the following circumstances: observer never takes the quiz, does not meet minimum detection
index requirement for the current year, or goes two or more years without taking the quiz
after having met index requirement previously.
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