Grant to AZ Game and Fish Department for Flat-tailed Horned Lizard Demographic Monitoring

The specific project objectives are: (1) Survey the two long-term demography study plots for Flat-tailed Horned Lizard (FTHL) established in 2008; (2) Continue collection of demographic information on local FTHL populations within these plots; and (3) Determine the population size, density, survival rate, recruitment, and population growth rate of FTHL within the Yuma Desert Management Area (YDMA).

Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD) will survey the two long-term demographic monitoring plots within the YDMA. AZGFD will strictly follow the mark-recapture protocol as outlined in FTHL Monitoring Plan developed by the FTHL Interagency Coordinating Committee (ICC). This data will be analyzed using robust design models for mark-recapture data as recommended by the FTHL ICC.

It is vital that long-term monitoring strategy continues for the YDMA of the FTHL in order to determine the status of the species and whether it merits listing under the Endangered Species Act. Listing of the FTHL under the Endangered Species Act has been precluded on four occasions, based largely on the conservation commitments in the RMS, and one these commitments is population monitoring. Results from the past 12 years of demographic monitoring by the AZGFD have shown that FTHL abundance differs yearly, and the populations of FTHL vary among the different Management Areas. Annual surveys, therefore, are critical to determine the status of the FTHL across time and space.