Because freshwater wetlands often support diverse and unique species assemblages, wetland loss is

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/ We examined data relative to species abundance, distribution, anddiversity patterns of reptiles and amphibians to determine how perceptionschange over time and with level of sampling effort. Location data werecompiled on more than one million individual captures or observations of 98species during a 44-year study period on the US Department of Energy's(DOE) Savannah River Site National Environmental Research Park (SRS-NERP) inSouth Carolina. We suggest that perceptions of herpetofaunal speciesdiversity are strongly dependent on level of effort and that land managementdecisions based on short-term data bases for some faunal groups could resultin serious errors in environmental management. We provide evidence thatacquiring information on biodiversity distribution patterns is compatiblewith multiyear spatially extensive research programs and also provide aperspective of what might be achieved if long-term, coordinated researchefforts were instituted nationwide.To conduct biotic surveys on government-managed lands, we recommend revisionsin the methods used by government agencies to acquire and report biodiversitydata. We suggest that government and industry employees engaged inbiodiversity survey efforts develop proficiency in field identification forone or more major taxonomic groups and be encouraged to measure the status ofpopulations quantitatively with consistent and reliable methodologies. Wealso suggest that widespread academic cooperation in the dissemination ofinformation on regional patterns of biodiversity could result byestablishment of a peer-reviewed, scientifically rigorous journal concernedwith status and trends of the biota of the United States. KEY WORDS: Abundance; Amphibian; Biodiversity; Distribution; Landmanagement; Reptile

A total of nearly 800 base pairs of mitochondrial DNA sequence was assayed in each of 52 musk turtles (Sternotherus minor) collected across the species' range in the south-eastern USA. About one-half of the sequence information in effect was accessed by conventional recognition-site assays of the entire mtDNA molecule; the remainder came from direct sequence assays of a normally hypervariable 5' section of the noncoding control region. The two assay methods produced essentially nonoverlapping sets of variable character states that were compared with respect to magnitudes and phylogeographic patterns of mtDNA variation. The two assay procedures yielded nearly identical outcomes with regard to: (a) total levels of species-wide mtDNA genetic variation; (b) mean levels of within-locale variation; (c) extremely high population genetic structure; (d) a phylogenetically significant separation of samples from the north-western half of the species' range vs. those in the south-eastern segment; and (e) considerably lower genetic variability within the north-western clade. The micro- and macro-phylogeographic mtDNA patterns in the musk turtle are consistent with a low-dispersal natural history, and with a suspected longer-term biogeographic history of the species, respectively.

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