A Striped Newt Population at the Southern Extent of Its Range in Osceola County, Florida

Kevin M. Enge^1,*, James C. Blush², Jason Hickson², Amanda Lee³, and Sara Miller³

¹Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 1105 SW Williston Road, Gainesville, FL 32601. ²Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 5285 N. Kenansville Road, St. Cloud, FL 34773. ³Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, 1231 Prairie Lakes Road, Kenansville, FL 34739. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 19, Issue 1 (2020): 62–73

Abstract
We discovered Notophthalmus perstriatus (Striped Newt) in 9 wetlands on Triple N Ranch Wildlife Management Area in Osceola County, FL, 57 km south of the nearest known breeding pond. Predominant habitats within 300 m of breeding ponds are mesic flatwoods (44%), dry prairie (24%), scrubby flatwoods (11%), and wet prairie (10%). One pond is 425 m from the nearest patch of xeric habitat (scrub or scrubby flatwoods), and 4 xeric upland patches closest to breeding ponds are 2 ha or smaller, suggesting that some newts may reside in surrounding atypical mesic habitats. Five breeding ponds are relatively large (>0.8 ha), and 7 ponds contained 3 or 4 fish species. Existing prescribed fire practices are apparently favorable for survival of 3 possible metapopulations.

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