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1995 MARYLAND BIOLOGICAL STREAM SURVEY HERPETOFAUNA (HERPS95)
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THE MARYLAND BIOLOGICAL STREAM SURVEY (MBSS) IS A MULTI-YEAR PROBABILITY-BASED SAMPLING PROGRAM DESIGNED TO ASSESS THE STATUS OF BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES IN NON-TIDAL STREAMS OF MARYLAND. THE MBSS STUDY AREA COMPRISES EIGHTEEN DRAINAGE BASINS ACROSS THE STATE OF MARYLAND, PROVIDING BIOLOGICAL, WATER CHEMISTRY, AND PHYSICAL HABITAT DATA FOR APPROXIMATELY 300 FIRST- THROUGH THIRD-ORDER STREAM SITES PER YEAR. 1995 WAS THE FIRST YEAR OF FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE MBSS, WITH ALL BASINS TO BE SAMPLED DURING 1995-1997. BEGINNING IN 1995, THE PROGRAM IMPLEMENTED A REVISED SAMPLING DESIGN, BASED ON RESULTS OF THE EARLIER 1994 MBSS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT. MBSS 1995 SAMPLING WAS CONDUCTED IN SIX BASINS: YOUGHIOGHENY, UPPER POTOMAC, LOWER POTOMAC, PATAPSCO, CHESTER, AND NANTICOKE-WICOMICO. THE DATA SET HERPS95 CONTAINS PRESENCE/ABSENCE DATA ON HERPETOFAUNA (REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS) FOUND IN AND ALONG EACH 75-METER STREAM SEGMENT SAMPLED DURING THE SUMMER INDEX PERIOD. SEARCHES FOR HERPETOFAUNA WERE CONDUCTED WITHIN EACH STREAM SEGMENT AND IN RIPARIAN HABITATS WITHIN 5 M OF THE STREAM. INDIVIDUALS WERE IDENTIFIED TO SPECIES LEVEL WHEN POSSIBLE. DATA ARE FROM THE 1995 MBSS SAMPLING YEAR.