MAMP 2008

About the Maine Amphibian Monitoring Program

What is MAMP?

MAMP was established in 1997 and is a joint effort between Maine Audubon and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.

It is also part of a larger national effort, the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP), which coordinates similar surveys in more than 25 states.

MAMP was one of the first participants in NAAMP and remains one of its most successful partners, with over sixty routes across the state, most of which are run every year by dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers like you.

What do MAMP Volunteers Do?

MAMP volunteers are assigned a road route with ten survey stops identified at or near wetlands. The routes are run three times a year, once in early spring, once in late spring and once in early summer.

Each run is designed to capture a different group of calling amphibians. The routes are run after dark and take between two and three hours.

At each survey stop, volunteers listen for five minutes and record the relative abundance and the species of amphibians they hear.

For more information about what the surveys entail, read the Volunteer Guidelines.

Where are MAMP Routes?

The state has been divided into three zones (coastal, interior, and northern). Each zone has slightly different guidelines for when to survey for calling amphibians. There are 61 MAMP routes across the state.

What Frogs and Toads will I hear on a MAMP Route?

There are nine species of frogs and toads that occur on MAMP routes in Maine. Because frogs breed and call at different times, each of the three MAMP runs is timed to target different groups of species.

The early spring run targets WOOD FROGS, who often call before the ice is gone from their ponds, and SPRING PEEPERS.

The late spring run targets PICKEREL FROGS, AMERICAN TOADS, and NORTHERN LEOPARD FROGS.

Leopard frogs are patchily distributed in Maine, and are on the state Special Concern list due to possible declines in their population. They often call most vocally during the day, and usually call slightly earlier than the other two species in this group.

Singing GRAY TREE FROGS may be heard in southern and central Maine during this run, but may also be heard later in the summer run.

The summer run also includes GREEN FROGS, BULLFROGS, and, in northern Maine, MINK FROGS. FOWLER'S TOADS may be present in extreme southern Maine during the summer run.

How Do I Sign Up to Participate?

Check the list of open routes to find one in your area, and then contact Becca Wilson at bwilson@maineaudubon.org or call 781-6180 ext. 222 to sign up for an open route.

You’ll be mailed a map of the route and a written description of each stop.

You’ll need some basic supplies and will need to review the complete protocol (PDF).

To familiarize yourself with frog calls, we suggest getting a copy of Maine Amphibians and Reptiles, University of Maine Press, $20.

This is an excellent reference book, has abundant information on Maine’s calling frogs, and includes a CD with frog calls you can use to learn the calls and test yourself on identifying frogs within a chorus.

For more information contact Susan Gallo at sgallo@maineaudubon.org or call 781-6180 x216.