Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program:
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

The southeastern United States is a biodiversity hotspot, and South Carolina has a broad diversity of species. However, many species of herpetofauna are overlooked, despite their ecological importance. This research project aims to address what we know and can learn about herpetofauna from a spatial ecology perspective. This will fill in gaps in knowledge about how land use affects herpetofaunal species, and what we can learn about their resource use and movement across the landscape in the face of changing land use. This research is a collaboration including USGS SC CFWRU, South Carolina DNR, and potentially the Nemours Foundation. Findings from this research will help support conservation actions by characterizing spatial patterns of species and their correlation with diverse land uses.