Herpetological Survey of Prince William Forest Park Prince William County, Virginia May 8th, 2021.

The Virginia Herpetological Society hosted a herpetological survey of Prince William Forest Park, a National Park located in Prince William County, Virginia. The purpose of this survey was to add to the information about the biodiversity of the park with known species occurrences and their abundance. Previous surveys that have taken place at the park have emphasized biodiversity of all taxa (“Bioblitz”), and there is ongoing research into stream habitats and how they are used by salamanders. For this survey, several different areas of the park were divided among volunteers. Volunteers searched for herpetofauna by flipping woody debris and rocks, dip netting vernal pools and streams, listening for calling anurans, and by chance encounter. The efforts of the volunteers yielded a total of 27 species that were captured or positively identified, including 14 amphibians and 13 reptiles. Future surveys should concentrate on the northern and central parts of the park, due to parking constraints and park activity, these areas were not heavily surveyed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]