This month I've added a link to TAMP on the Leaps home page. So what is TAMP? The Tennessee Amphibian Monitoring Program (TAMP) is a joint venture between the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and Middle Tennessee State University. I've been privileged to contribute data to TAMP for over 20 years. The database is kept by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. The TAMP website is still under construction, but I'm putting it up now to allow volunteers to access information about the program, and to access route information and forms.

TAMP is a listening survey. A TAMP volunteer drives an assigned route, stopping at ten ordered stops along the way and recording each species he or she hears at each stop. Volunteers conduct their survey four times per year.

With the data gathered from TAMP, we hope to better understand the distribution and relative abundance of each of the 22 species of frogs and toads that occur in Tennessee.

These species face a variety of threats. With the progressive development of rural areas in Tennessee, the habitats of many of our frogs and toads are diminishing. The misuse of herbicides and pesticides adversely affects populations. Various pathogens are taking their toll.

Changing climate may also threaten some species. Will rising winter temperatures negatively affect species that require cooler breeding temperatures?

TAMP volunteers sometimes find species that have never been observed in a particular county. New county records are important because they help define the range of each species of frog and toad in Tennessee. New records are first submitted to Austin Peay State University. If they are approved by Austin Peay they can be published in periodicals like Herpetological Review. Range maps are then revised to reflect these new records.

TAMP is not for everyone. Data forms must be filled out and an online quiz completed. Often there is considerable driving time involved in just getting to the start point of an official TAMP route. Driving a route requires navigating a rural road at night. Volunteers begin their routes after sunset, which may result in a return time close to midnight in the summer.

But for those who want to make a lasting contribution to a body of knowledge about Tennessee frogs and toads, TAMP provides that opportunity. The data carefully gathered today will only become more valuable tomorrow. Biologists and land managers can use this data to determine where each species occurs and in what abundance. This knowledge is invaluable in making decisions about land use that benefit our amphibian populations, our environment and ourselves.

Volunteers also gain by contributing to TAMP. They learn to identify Tennessee's frogs and toads by sight and sound, learn the habitats that each species prefers, and learn when each species is active. Volunteers often encounter night birds and nocturnal mammals. But perhaps the greatest benefits are those that don't show up on a data sheet. There are times when I'm standing by a wetland at twilight when I realize there's no other place I'd rather be. Whether I'm listening to a frog chorus, a distant owl or just enjoying the sound of the wind in the pines, just being out there is deeply satisfying.

If you would like more information on the TAMP program, please email me at engc205@aol"dot"com or by phone at 615-210-8774.

Sky Events for March 2019:

Mars moves from Aries into Taurus around the middle of the month. It's quite small in a telescope field of view, and by the end of the month is less than 5 seconds of an arc in apparent diameter. Its apparent motion this month brings it close to the Pleiades by the end of the month.

Mercury will be visible low in the western sky after sunset for the first few days in March. It will quickly disappear in the twilight glow by the end of the first week of March. It always helps to pick a spot that has a flat horizon when trying to spot Mercury. It's fun though, because you can see it's change in position from day to day.