BEC-4 How Trout Rearing Ponds Turn into a Predation Sink
Start Date
12-4-2024 9:30 AM
End Date
12-4-2024 11:30 AM
Location
University Readiness Center Greatroom
Document Type
Poster
Abstract
Table Rock State Park (TRSP), located in the upstate of South Carolina, serves a variety of different purposes. Today, the park’s main attractions are the many recreational opportunities it provides, as well as the protected land that gives local flora and fauna secure habitat. In the past, TRSP also raised trout to stock local lakes. The trout were raised in concrete ponds within the park. This practice was discontinued in the 1970’s, but the man-made ponds remain untouched in the park to this day. I learned from conversations with the naturalist at the park as well as a Ph.D. researcher who once used the park as a research site that it is thought that some herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians) may fall in the ponds and be unable to get out or end up as easy prey. To date, however, no study has looked at what happens to the herpetofauna that fall into these ponds. Several methods were employed to collect data on the herps present as well as possible predators. A drift fence equipped with game cameras was used to track the movement of animals in and out of the pond area. Game cameras were also positioned to overlook the ponds to see if any herpetofauna were using ramps that were installed to allow escape or access to the ponds. I also utilized coverboards and active-search surveys to determine what species were present in the area. Twenty-nine different animal species were recorded over the course of the research, eighteen were herpetofauna, ten were mammals, and one species of bird was documented. Along with reptiles and amphibians, mammals were surprisingly abundant and high in species richness. The ponds acting as a predation sink is likely for several reasons. Over half of the mammal species found interacting with the ponds are predators of the different herpetofauna that I recorded. In addition to the abundance of predators and their prey in and around the ponds, six different herpetofauna were found predated upon over the course of the study. Because of the direct evidence of predation occurring in the ponds, it can be concluded that these abandoned structures are not acting as a safe haven for herpetofauna and may in fact act as a predation sink instead, in which the herpetofauna are easy prey for mammals. Further study on the predators is needed to conclude the extent of the predation rates within the ponds.
Keywords
Herpetofauna, Mammals, Predation, Man-made structures
BEC-4 How Trout Rearing Ponds Turn into a Predation Sink
University Readiness Center Greatroom
Table Rock State Park (TRSP), located in the upstate of South Carolina, serves a variety of different purposes. Today, the park’s main attractions are the many recreational opportunities it provides, as well as the protected land that gives local flora and fauna secure habitat. In the past, TRSP also raised trout to stock local lakes. The trout were raised in concrete ponds within the park. This practice was discontinued in the 1970’s, but the man-made ponds remain untouched in the park to this day. I learned from conversations with the naturalist at the park as well as a Ph.D. researcher who once used the park as a research site that it is thought that some herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians) may fall in the ponds and be unable to get out or end up as easy prey. To date, however, no study has looked at what happens to the herpetofauna that fall into these ponds. Several methods were employed to collect data on the herps present as well as possible predators. A drift fence equipped with game cameras was used to track the movement of animals in and out of the pond area. Game cameras were also positioned to overlook the ponds to see if any herpetofauna were using ramps that were installed to allow escape or access to the ponds. I also utilized coverboards and active-search surveys to determine what species were present in the area. Twenty-nine different animal species were recorded over the course of the research, eighteen were herpetofauna, ten were mammals, and one species of bird was documented. Along with reptiles and amphibians, mammals were surprisingly abundant and high in species richness. The ponds acting as a predation sink is likely for several reasons. Over half of the mammal species found interacting with the ponds are predators of the different herpetofauna that I recorded. In addition to the abundance of predators and their prey in and around the ponds, six different herpetofauna were found predated upon over the course of the study. Because of the direct evidence of predation occurring in the ponds, it can be concluded that these abandoned structures are not acting as a safe haven for herpetofauna and may in fact act as a predation sink instead, in which the herpetofauna are easy prey for mammals. Further study on the predators is needed to conclude the extent of the predation rates within the ponds.