Description
The National Park Service intends to award a single source justified cooperative agreement to the University of Rhode Island for the project "Identifying Activity Periods of an Endangered Salamander". The project aims to conduct intensive surveys for salamanders in established plots, monitor climate variables, and identify climatic conditions during the active season at which salamanders are deep underground and are not at risk of fuels management activities. The recipient will be responsible for carrying out the statement of work, providing qualified personnel, preparing annual and final reports, and collaborating with NPS staff on scientific peer-reviewed journal articles and public presentations. The NPS will provide research permits, maps, gate lock combinations, and other logistical information, as well as access to GIS databases and relevant data sets.
• The project will conduct bi-weekly daytime searches of cover object plots at six sites from June to October 2019.
• Salamanders will be implanted with passive implant transponder tags and their locations will be documented.
• Climate instrumentation will be established at two sites to measure precipitation, solar radiation, ambient air temperature, relative humidity, soil temperature, and soil moisture.
• The recipient will prepare annual and final reports, provide databases and information for NPS archival, and collaborate with NPS staff on scientific peer-reviewed journal articles and public presentations.