Abstract1_17 (Hasumi)

Hasumi, M., T. Hongorzul, B. Munkhchuluun, B. Taivanjargal, E. Hurelbaatar, A. Uuganbayar, T. Sano, and H. Nishida: Use of satellite imagery to find the salamander Salamandrella keyserlingii at Darhadyn Wetland, Mongolia. Herpetological Review (USA, International) 38(1): 56-58, March 2007.

Abstract: We conducted summer surveys of water bodies (e.g., off-channel crescent lakes, pools) and adjacent forest zones for searching individual salamanders of Salamandrella keyserlingii (Hynobiidae), hidden under decaying logs as refugia during daytime, in four sites proposed by analyzing a Landsat satellite picture of the whole Darhadyn Wetland, Mongolia. This was a relatively useful method with a 25% detection rate of new S. keyserlingii sites. Within Darhadyn Wetland, potential aquatic-breeding habitats could not be accessed during spring, due to poor road conditions caused by melting of the frozen soil. While larval surveys can be conducted during summer for many species and sites, at this wetland, larvae were rarely captured from the water bodies during summer because of their earlier metamorphosis (mostly during July). Such a satellite imagery method (remote-sensing technique) for predicting distribution of this species across huge and often inaccessible landscapes may have merits and broad applicability to other regions with similar landscapes.