Diario del proyecto Pacific Newt Roadkill (Main Project)- Lexington Reservoir

During the 2018-2019 newt migration season, we recorded 4,887 newt roadkill victims along with 69 individuals of other species. To date, no mitigations have been put in place, other than the SCC Road Dept. installing eight "Newt Crossing" signs. Therefore, we can probably expect similar road mortality numbers for the upcoming migration season, which will probably commence within two weeks. It's unknown how many newts live in the mountains above Lexington Reservoir. I believe this population is in danger of extermination. How many years can it survive this high mortality rate?

Progress Report:
A dedicated group of professionals is still trying to identify the most appropriate mitigation(s) for the newt mortality on Alma Bridge Rd. and gain funding for the project. The group includes people from the following agencies: UC Davis Road Ecology Dept, Santa Clara County (SCC) Parks & Recreation, (SCC) Roads Dept., Audubon Society, Sierra Club, CA Fish & Wildlife Dept, and Western Ecological Research Center (USGS).

In April, 2019, Dr. Fraser Shilling, UCD Road Ecology Dept., submitted a grant proposal to the CA Wildlife Conservation Board, but without luck. There were too many worthy causes vying for limited funds. He'll try again this coming year.

Volunteers Needed:
The above professionals want to continue to monitor the newt mortality on Alma Bridge Rd. during the upcoming 2019-2020 migration season in order to establish a baseline that can be used to determine the efficacy of any mitigations put in place. I cannot continue this work because I'm currently battling an aggressive cancer. Therefore, I'm asking for volunteers who might be interested in continuing the work @merav and I started last season.

To give you an idea of the amount of work required:
Timeframe: mid-November through mid-April
Frequency: twice per week
Total data collection days: 52
Length of road: 4.1 miles
Observations & photos submitted to iNaturalist: >5,000

Obviously, if more people are involved, the less work for each individual. Meanwhile, if you're hiking in the Lexington Reservoir area, please record any roadkill you come across in the iNaturalist database.

I'm grateful that you all have signed up to continue the work of monitoring newt roadkill at Lexington Reservoir. (@merav, @sea-kangaroo, @newtpatrol, @anudibranchmom, @joescience1)

Last year I accumulated a ton of information that I'm happy to share with you all. If you send me your email address, I'll send you the materials:

• I have 10 pages of references to articles, papers, YouTube videos, conservationist groups around the country, and local contacts.
• I kept an Excel spreadsheet of the number of deaths for each survey along with the rainfall by day and cumulative amount per month. It's interesting to see that the data disprove the assumption that newts only come out on rainy nights. We saw lots of newt roadkill even after many days without rain. We also saw live newts on the road during the daytime (and rescued them).

• @merav and I kept Journal notes for each survey, including traffic conditions (heavy or light traffic), road conditions (wet or dry), and other info that might help us understand how local conditions affect roadkill numbers. You can read our notes here:
  https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-all-lexington-reservoir-area/journal

• I had difficulty at first differentiating recent newt roadkill vs old roadkill (already reported), so I collected data over time to show how the newts decompose. When there are hundreds of dead newts on the road accumulated over weeks, it gets harder to tell them apart. You can look at the pictures in the following project to help you:
  https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-decomp-study-lexington-reservoir-area

• Please also record roadkill from other species. Here's the project:
  https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/other-roadkill-lexington-reservoir-area

• Here's the umbrella project that collects data from all the sub-projects:
  https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/pacific-newts-all-lexington-reservoir-area

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'll be checking in from time to time to see what you find.