AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE INSTALLATIONS

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) occupies approximately 10.1 million ha of land within the U.S. spanning most ecosystems contained therein. To date, no comprehensive agency-wide inventory of amphibian and reptile species has been compiled. We developed an amphibian and reptile species inventory for 415 DoD installations/sites and evaluated species diversity. The amphibian and reptile species confirmed present on DoD sites represent 66% of the total native species documented in the continental U.S. Snakes are the most widespread group found on DoD lands. Of the military services, Army sites have the greatest number of confirmed species, federally listed, state-listed, and At-risk species. There are 24 federally listed (threatened or endangered), 55 state-listed, and 70 At-risk species confirmed present on DoD sites. Thirty non-native and native transplant amphibian and reptile species/subspecies are also confirmed present on DoD sites. Lastly, we verified that approximately half of the military sites evaluated in this study have at least one venomous snake species confirmed present. Our study results assist directly with ongoing management and conservation of amphibian and reptile species on DoD lands and confirm military lands comprise a significant contribution to biodiversity conservation.