National Capital Parks-East - Amphibians

National Capital Parks-East (NACE) has known extant populations of eighteen species of amphibians including ten species of frogs, five species of salamanders or newts, and three species of toads. Bull Frogs, Green Frogs, Southern Leopard Frogs, Spring Peeper Tree Frogs, and Pickerel Frogs are widely distributed within the parks of NACE, while extant populations of Upland Chorus Frogs, Northern Cricket Frogs, Cope"s Gray Tree Frogs, Green Tree Frogs and Wood Frogs are known only from Piscataway Park in Maryland. Of the species known only from Piscataway Park, Wood Frogs are the most common while Upland Chorus Frogs are restricted to a single population within the park. Of the five species of salamanders, the Redback (both red and lead backed phases) is the most common species at NACE. Spotted, Marbled and Northern Two-lined Salamanders are known from two NACE parks, while Red-spotted Newts are known only from Kenilworth Park in the District of Columbia. Historically, three additional species of salamanders, the Northern Dusky, the Four-toed, and the Northern Red were known to occur in NACE parks but are now believed to be extirpated. The last reports of Northern Dusky and Northern Red Salamanders were from 1945 and the last report of a Four-toed Salamander was in 1981, with the exception of one site within the easement land of Piscataway Park discovered in 2002. The three species of toads known from NACE parks are the American Toad, Fowler"s Toad, and Eastern Spadefoot Toad. The Eastern Spadefoot Toad is known only from Piscataway Park.