Stephen P. Broker
Biodiversity indices have been developed to measure the full array of life in terms of species richness, the commonness or rarity of species, and the evenness of distribution of species in communities or habitats. Thus, alpha diversity is a measure of "species richness within a community," beta-diversity is a measure of "species diversity between communities or habitats," and gamma diversity is "species diversity among communities over a [large] geographical area" (Smith and Smith. 1998.) Applied to the wildlife of Connecticut, alpha diversity would pertain to all the different species of vertebrates found within state boundaries, if the state is defined as the community under consideration. Beta-diversity would consider a comparison between the diversity of vertebrates in Connecticut and that of other (perhaps neighboring) states (including species turnover). Gamma-diversity would be a measure of biodiversity of the United States, or of North America, or perhaps global biodiversity.
The State of Connecticut has fairly high species diversity for a northern temperate climate, including freshwater and salt water fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. This unit does not address the diversity of Connecticut's freshwater and salt water fishes, although for many researchers the piscines have been a subject of considerable interest and ecological and evolutionary significance. I focus instead on some of the tetrapods found in the state. Current check-lists of the vertebrates of Connecticut identify 22 amphibians, 28 reptiles, 409 birds, and approximately 100 species of mammals.
Amphibians and reptiles often are studied by the same researchers and are grouped as the herpetofauna of a region. The amphibians of Connecticut include twelve species of salamanders and ten species of frogs. The salamanders are classified in four families, consisting of ambystomatids (4), plethodontids (6), proteids (1), and salamandrids (1). Representative species are the Spotted Salamander, the Red-backed Salamander, the Mudpuppy, and the Eastern Newt or Red-spotted Newt, respectively. I have never seen Mudpuppies in Connecticut. Klemens (1993.) states that this species "has been collected in the Connecticut River, from the Massachusetts border (Hartford County) south to Middletown (Middlesex County.)." The mudpuppy has been reported in the 1950s and again in the 1980s, and its small populations may derive from intentional introductions earlier in the 20th century. I see Spotted Salamanders on an annual basis in West Rock vernal pools – they are obligate species in these temporary or ephemeral pools of shallow water - during their early spring breeding aggregations and during fall migrations to nearby underground hibernating sites. The Eastern Newt is found in the Lake Wintergreen site at West Rock Ridge State Park, in its aquatic stages, and on the ridge top and slopes in its terrestrial red eft stage. Red-backed Salamanders are ubiquitous under rocks and fallen trees in the forested regions of Connecticut. They are believed to be the species of greatest total biomass of all vertebrates in Connecticut.
The frogs of Connecticut are grouped in four families, and they include bufids or toads (2 species), hylids or treefrogs (2), pelobatids or spadefoots (1), and ranids or true frogs (5). Representative frogs and toads are the Eastern American Toad, the Northern Spring Peeper, the Eastern Spadefoot (limited to a half-dozen or so known populations in Connecticut and classified as state-endangered), and the Bullfrog and Wood Frog, respectively. The American Toad, Spring Peeper, and Bullfrog are common and widespread in Connecticut in appropriate terrestrial or aquatic habitats (deciduous forests, talus slopes, wet meadows, fields, lakes and ponds, and floodplain swamps). Wood Frogs have more restricted habitat requirements for breeding and are found in vernal pools, wooded swamps, and flooded meadows (Klemens. 1993.). I have never seen the state-endangered Eastern Spadefoot in Connecticut, but I am familiar with and have photographed two populations in the town of Wellfleet, Massachusetts (on sandy Cape Cod) where these rarely observed burrowing amphibians come out to traditional breeding pools following very occasional violent thunderstorms. The Eastern Spadefoot is another obligate vernal pool breeder.
Connecticut's reptiles include thirteen turtles, one lizard, and fourteen snakes. The turtles include five sea turtles grouped in two families, the dermochelyids and the cheloniids, and eight freshwater, brackish water, or terrestrial turtles, including chelydrids (1) emydids (6), and kinosternids (1). Sea Turtles are federally and state-endangered. Non-marine turtles include the Common Snapping Turtle (a chelydrid), the Painted Turtle, Wood Turtle, and Eastern Box Turtle (emydids), and the Common Musk Turtle (a kinosternid). The one lizard species found in Connecticut is the Eastern Five-lined Skink (Family Scincidae), which I have observed in forested parklands of Alabama but never in Connecticut. The New England states have next to no diversity in lizards, which are far more abundant and diverse in the species-rich southern and western portions of the United States. Connecticut's snakes include colubrids (12) and viperids (2). Common colubrid species include the Northern Black Racer, the Eastern Milksnake, and the Eastern Garter Snake. All three of these species are widely distributed at West Rock Ridge. The two viperids present in our state are the Northern Copperhead and the Timber Rattlesnake. Copperheads are fairly common in appropriate habitat; I have made so many as twenty separate observations of copperheads at West Rock in a given year, having observed them at two annually used hibernacula (hibernating places) and during their dispersal in spring from upland to lowland habitats. In most instances, I have found copperheads basking under dead leaves along the edges of rock jumbles on the ridge top. One site on the ridge top serves as an inter-species hibernaculum for copperheads, black racers, and eastern hognose snakes. Timber Rattlesnakes are highly endangered in Connecticut, and I have not made the effort, yet, to see any of them at their den sites.
Common Snapping Turtles grow to very large sizes in the quiet, shallow waters of Konold's Pond. I have photographed one snapping turtle found in Konold's Pond (just west of the old quarry site in the town of Woodbridge) which had a carapace (upper shell) measuring seventeen inches. An acquaintance who is a regular mountain biker at this state park found and photographed a snapping turtle on the ridge top that equaled or exceeded the 17.5 inch carapace of the largest specimen measured in Connecticut. (Snapping Turtles, incidentally, are potentially among the most dangerous of Connecticut vertebrates, as their powerful jaws can easily remove a carelessly placed finger or hand. Painted Turtles are very common in the lakes and ponds surrounding West Rock Ridge, particularly in Konold's Pond. Box Turtles are found on the ridge top, slopes, and lowlands of West Rock, and they are particularly likely to be seen following rain storms as they move about the ridge. The trail that runs alongside Wintergreen Brook on the east side of the ridge is another good area for finding box turtles. Wood Turtles are far less frequently encountered but may also be found in the Wintergreen Brook floodplain. Both box turtles and wood turtles are listed as Special Concern Species in Connecticut.
The birds of Connecticut include 409 species classified in sixty families. The most species diverse of these birds are the anatids (ducks, geese, and swans – 41 species), the parulids (wood warblers – 39 species), the scolopacids (sandpipers – 37 species), the larids (gulls, terns, jaegers, and skimmers – 32 species), and the emberizids (sparrows and relatives – 29 species). Additional species-diverse families include the tyrannids (tyrant flycatchers – 17 species), the accipitrids (hawks, eagles, and kites – 14 species), the turdids (thrushes – 12 species), the icterids (blackbirds, orioles, and relatives – 12 species), the ardeids (herons, bitterns, and relatives – 11 species), the strigids (true owls – 11 species), the fringillids (finches, grosbeaks, crossbills, and relatives – 11 species), and the rallids (rails, coots, and gallinules – 10 species). During nearly twenty-five years of field work at West Rock Ridge, I have documented more than 230 species of birds in its uplands, slopes, floodplain, and lake habitats, and I have determined that approximately one hundred species of birds breed at West Rock, based on my having located nests with eggs or young and recently fledged birds being attended by adults. West Rock Ridge is one of a small number of breeding bird "hot spots" in Connecticut and is exceeded in its diversity of breeding birds by no more than five regions of northwestern and west-central Connecticut. My analysis of the results of the 1982-1986 Breeding Bird Survey of the State of Connecticut and my subsequent field work at West Rock Ridge indicate that the most significant breeding hotspots are: (1) Nepaug State Forest and Nepaug Reservoir (Collinsville Quadrangle/town of New Hartford); (2) Bantam Lake (Litchfield Quadrangle/town of Litchfield); (3) Housatonic State Forest and the Housatonic River (Sharon and Ellsworth Quadrangles/towns of Sharon, Warren, and Cornwall); (4) Tunxis State Forest, Peoples State Forest, Barkhamsted Reservoir, and Ragged Mountain (West Granville and New Hartford Quadrangles/towns of Hartland and Barkhamsted); (5) the Housatonic, Shepaug, and Pomeraug Rivers (Woodbury and Newtown Quadrangles/towns of Woodbury, Southbury, Newtown, Bridgewater, and Brookfield); (6) West Rock Ridge State Park (New Haven and Mount Carmel Quadrangles/towns of Woodbridge, Bethany, Hamden, and New Haven). Unusual or rare breeding bird species at West Rock include Pied-billed Grebe (a state-endangered species and a probable breeder in lakes around the ridge), Sharp-shinned Hawk (probable breeder and state-endangered), Cooper's Hawk (a confirmed breeder in a pine plantation at the Lake Wintergreen site), Peregrine Falcon (state-endangered; confirmed as a breeding species by me in 2000 and each year since), Whip-poor-will (special concern species; known for many years to breed at the Lake Wintergreen site), Common Raven (special concern species; breeding in its southernmost location at West Rock since at least 2002, when I discovered adults attending recently fledged young), Winter Wren (a very rare breeding species outside Litchfield County), Brown Thrasher (special concern species), and Yellow-breasted Chat (at the Lake Wintergreen parcel, one of only two confirmed breeding sites during the five year breeding bird atlas project). In addition, Black Vulture has given some indications of seeking a breeding site at West Rock Ridge in recent years, as it expands its range into southern New England from more southern populations.
The mammals of Connecticut include opossums, shrews and moles, bats, rabbits, rodents (squirrels, beavers, rats and mice, and porcupines), carnivores (coyotes, bears, raccoons, weasels and allies, skunks, and cats), and artiodactyls (deer and moose). West Rock is home to many of these state species, including numerous small mammals (shrews, moles, and rodents), coyotes (confirmed as breeders when I observed two recently born coyotes on the ridge top several years ago), gray fox and red fox, weasels, river otters (seen in Wintergreen Brook and Konold's Pond), the Red Bat (a Special Concern Species), and not surprisingly, the White-tailed Deer. On March 29, 2005 I observed an adult Fisher (Order Carnivora, Family Mustelidae) as it walked and loped down the paved Baldwin Drive on the east slopes of West Rock Ridge, thereby confirming that this recently reintroduced (1989 and 1990) member of the weasel family has extended its range from northwestern and northeastern Connecticut into south-central Connecticut in the last year or two.
The complete check-lists of the vertebrates of Connecticut are too lengthy to publish here, but I have developed computer files listing all recognized species in each taxonomic category. The check-lists also are available through the website of the State of Connecticut, Department of Environmental Protection and from websites of such organizations as the Connecticut Ornithological Association.
