Laura's Pond
Laura’s
Pond is a small, semi-permanent pond located off Entomology Road within the
USDA Beltsville
Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, MD. It is named after Dr. Laura
Mazanti, a former biologist with the Wetland Science Institute who had been
studying this population of spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum)
before she passed away in 2000. The pond covers an area of approximately 360
m² when full in the spring and contains no fish. As a result of the pond
being fishless and holding water for all but the driest years, myriad species
of amphibians use this site as primary breeding habitat, including many in
the PWRC & BARC Species List. The primary study
being conducted at Laura’s Pond involves estimating the size of the
spotted salamander population through capture-recapture of adults (using spot
pattern recognition), egg mass counts, and coverboard surveys of juveniles
leaving the pond. Our secondary work at the pond involves checking all captured
amphibians for malformations during coverboard surveys and searches of the
pond. Laura’s Pond is the location from which NE ARMI has the most in-depth
photo documentation of malformations in Maryland. If a malformed amphibian
is observed, we collect the individual and send it to Dr.
David Green at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, WI.