Databases: A state-by-state look at information storage

Authors(s): C. R. Peterson, K. R. McAllister, J. Reichel, M. Hayes and J. Mizzi

Publication: conference on declining and sensitive amphibians in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest

Publisher: (unpublished) Idaho Herpetological Society and US Fish and Wildlife Service, Snake River Basin Office, Boise ID

Publication Date: 0000-00-00

Type:

Location: Boise ID

Abstract: The Northern Intermountain Herpetological Database (NIHD) contains information on the distribution and biology of all species of amphibians and reptiles for the state of Idaho, the counties bordering Idaho, and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (portions of Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana). Sources of data include museum records, the literature (including agency reports), our field surveys, and reported observations. Since 1990, we have contacted over 100 North American museum collections for information on herpteological specimens from the Northern Intermountain West. We have compiled a bibliography of herpetological studies for Idaho and the GYE and have actively solicited observations of amphibians and reptiles from educational institutions, government agency personnel, private industry, conservation organizations, and the public. Please see the accompanying forms for contributing observations or voucher specimens. We currently have entered and digitized coordinates for about 6000 museum records and 4000 observations. Within our constraints of time and funding, the information in this database is shared with state and federal agencies, private industry, private conservation organizations, academic biologists, and museums. Funding sources have included the NBS Gap Analysis Program, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Idaho Museum of Natural History, Idaho Power Company, Potlatch Corporation, the ISU Graduate School, the Department of Energy (via the Environmental Science and Research Foundation), the USDA Forest Service, the USDI Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service. This database is housed in the Herpetology Section of the Idaho Museum of Natural History in Pocatello, Idaho. Inquiries or contributed specimens and observations should be directed to Dr Charles R Peterson, Curator of Herpetology, IMNH, Campus Box 807, Idaho State University, Pocatello, Idaho 83209. (208) 236-3922 (voice), (208) 236-4570 (fax), petechar@isu.edu (email). A World Wide Web site is under development.

Keywords: animal, herpetology, amphibian, frog, Anura, Ranidae, Bufonidae, toad, salamander, Caudata, reptile, Reptilia, Squamata, Colubridae, lizard, snake, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, population, bibliography, Idaho