The Northeast Partners for Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) Annual Meeting is being held July 24th to the 26th at the NJ School of Conservation in Branchville, Sussex County, NJ.
The call for abstracts is attached and also provided below. Please pass this on to others who might be interested in presenting, participating in our poster session or attending. Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) Annual Meeting NJ School of Conservation, Branchville, NJ Oral presentations will be approximately 20 minutes in total length (including ~ 5 minutes for questions). A special poster session will be held to facilitate the sharing of ideas and interactions among attendees and presenters. Presentations by students (graduate and undergraduate) are encouraged. July 24-26, 2013 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Abstracts are invited for oral and poster presentations at the 14th annual meeting of the Northeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (NEPARC) to be held July 24‐26, 2013, at the NJ School of Conservation,Branchville, NJ. NEPARC is an active, diverse, and inclusive partnership dedicated to the conservation of amphibians and reptiles and their habitats throughout northeastern North America. Annual meetings are an ideal forum to share current research and conservation initiatives, participate in working group sessions, and to network with like-minded herp enthusiasts in the Northeast. Please visit http://www.northeastparc.org to learn more about NEPARC’s mission and current conservation initiatives. Presentations are invited on all topics related to reptile and amphibian conservation, and are especially solicited for the following topics: Habitat Restoration – Projects and research related to enhancing/restoring habitats specifically to benefit reptiles and amphibians. Habitat Connectivity – Planning, mapping, and projects designed to restore/maintain habitat connectivity for reptiles and amphibians. Climate Change – Projects related to adaption or risk assessment for reptiles and amphibians in the face of climate change. Law Enforcement – Aspect of law enforcement related to reptile and amphibian protection. Due to the structure of the meeting (including working group sessions), there are limited speaker slots available and some oral presentations may be asked to consider a poster presentation. Registration will be open in the coming months and will be available on the NEPARC website (http://www.northeastparc.org). All presentations will occur on July 25-26. Registration and an informal social will begin on the evening of July 24, 2013. DEADLINE for submission of abstracts to be considered for oral presentations is: May 15, 2013. Poster abstracts should be submitted by June 15, 2013. HOW TO SUBMIT ABSTRACTS: Abstracts must be submitted electronically by sending an email to [email protected]. Please include ‘NEPARC Abstract’ in the subject line. Include the abstract as an attachment (Microsoft Word) and identify whether you prefer an oral or poster presentation. See Instructions for Preparing Abstracts (below) for formatting requirements. If you have questions as to whether your topic is relevant to the meeting, please contact: [email protected]. Instructions for Preparing Abstracts Please read carefully and follow all directions. Abstracts should informatively summarize the contents of the oral or poster presentation and give important conclusions. Titles must be less than 20 words. Capitalize only the first letter of each word. Text of abstracts must be less than 250 words in length. Use Times New Roman (12 point) for text and include only one space after periods. Italicize all scientific names. List senior author first and indicate the presenting author by following their name with an asterisk. List the authors as you would like them to appear in the printed abstract volume. Authors' names must be followed by their affiliated department name, organization name, address, city, state and zip code, and email. Sample Abstract (from 2012 NEPARC Meeting) Abstract (from 2012 NEPARC Meeting) TITLE: Patterns of Amphibian Occurrence in Alpine Wetlands in Québec, Newfoundland, and New England AUTHOR(s), AFFILIATION, ADDRESS, AND EMAIL: Michael T. Jones*, Massachusetts Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003; [email protected]; Lisabeth L. Willey, Department of Environmental Conservation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003; [email protected]; Scott D. Smyers, Oxbow Associates, 629 Massachusetts Ave., Boxborough, MA 01719 ABSTRACT: Arctic-alpine habitats are relatively rare in eastern North America, where they reach their southernmost extent in New York and New England. Alpine habitats are more widespread and diverse in Newfoundland, Labrador and Québec, where common alpine wetlands include bogs, fens, and rocky pools. Alpine areas are subjected to extreme environmental conditions including summer frosts, short growing seasons, late ice-out, strong winds, frequent fog, and elevated UV. Little is known about the amphibian communities of eastern alpine wetlands, but they are likely to respond quickly in response to environmental change and are thus reasonable long-term bio-indicators. We evaluated patterns of amphibian occurrence in alpine environments at two scales. At a broad scale, we surveyed 90 pools in 12 ranges in Québec, Newfoundland, and New England. At a finer scale, we employed visual surveys and acoustic recorders to establish long-term monitoring sites on the Presidential and Franconia Ranges, New Hampshire. Nine species were detected; these exhibited different patterns of occurrence. We found Anaxyrus americanus, Lithobates sylvatica, and Pseudacris crucifer broadly distributed in most alpine areas surveyed in Québec and New England. Lithobates clamitans, Ambystoma maculatum, Eurycea bislineata, Plethodon cinereus and Notophthalmus viridescens were sporadically encountered in mainland alpine environments. Some northern species such as Lithobates pipiens, L. septentrionalis, and Ambystoma laterale were not detected in mainland alpine areas, although introduced L. septentrionalis were locally abundant in alpine areas in Newfoundland, co-occurring with A. americanus. At a finer scale, anurans in New England alpine areas do not appear to show signs of cold-adaptation.
