Survey of rare herpetofauna at the Fort Riley Military Reservation

Abstract

In 1993, the Kansas Biological Survey (KBS) conducted the first systematic herpetofaunal survey that was specific to the Fort Riley Military Reservation (Riley and Geary counties) and documented 39 reptile and amphibian species at the installation. Since 2002, the Directorate of Public Works at Fort Riley has conducted annual reptile and amphibian counts at the installation during April or May and has confirmed seven additional species not previously documented by the KBS. However, two species (Plains Spadefoot (Spea bombifrons) and Western Hognose Snake (Heterodon nasicus)) that were found by the KBS have not been seen at Fort Riley since 1993. During the summer of 2012, I conducted a herpetofaunal survey at Fort Riley with special focus on S. bombifrons and H. nasicus. A total of 666 individuals representing 28 reptile and amphibian species were found at the FRMR during the survey, which included three S. bombifrons individuals, but H. nasicus was not found. I attributed the rarity of S. bombifrons and H. nasicus at Fort Riley to the natural rarity of the soil type required for these species, which has been further reduced by increased urbanization. Because these two species are fossorial for most of their lives, the dry conditions of 2012 likely kept these species underground for most of the summer.