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A New Ontario Reptile and Amphibian Atlas - Policies and Procedures

Spotted Turtle; CREDIT: Joe Crowley

While the general distribution of Ontario's herpetofauna has been well documented by the Ontario Herpetofaunal Summary Atlas, the local distribution and abundance of species in many areas remains unknown. Furthermore, many populations of rare reptiles and amphibians have not even been discovered yet! Without this information, it is difficult to monitor trends in species distributions and abundance, assess species status and identify and manage important habitat for rare species.

The Eastern Ontario Herpetofaunal Atlas:

Over the winter of 2008/2009, the Eastern Ontario Model Forest developed an Eastern Ontario Herpetofaunal Atlas, which is the pilot project to this provincial atlas program. Information about that project, including program content, up-to-date eastern Ontario range maps, and an online reporting tool can be found at here. Any observations of reptiles and amphibians from Ontario's 5 eastern-most counties (Leeds & Grenville; Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry; Prescott & Russell; Ottawa; and Lanark) should be submitted to the eastern Ontario atlas. The eastern Ontario atlas will continue to function as a separate project (with its own website, content specific to eastern Ontario and reporting tools), but all data collected through that project will be included in the provincial atlas as well.

Policy and Guidelines:

Please take the time to review our brief policies with respect to data, liability and privacy, as well as our guidelines for conducting surveys for this atlas program. Your acknowledgement and consent with these policies and guidelines will be required to submit data.

1. Ownership and use of data
   By submitting data to the Ontario Herpetofaunal Atlas (OHA) program, you are giving Ontario Nature the right to include that data in the Herpetofaunal Atlas and any maps, reports, publications or other products that result from the OHA program. Data submitted to the OHA will be peer-reviewed for accuracy and completeness by expert herpetologists. The OHA reserves the right to include or exclude data based on the quality (completeness and accuracy) of the data. Distribution or species occurrence maps produced using these data may not be reproduced for publication without the consent of the OHA program.
2. Privacy policy
   The OHA reserves the right to contact atlas participants for additional information. Unless you indicate otherwise to us in writing, you accept that your name may be included in data summaries, reports or any data product derived from the atlas database where appropriate. Personal information of participants (such as names, address, email, and phone number) will be used for the above-mentioned purposes only. Personal information will not be shared with third parties, and will only be available to the atlas partner institutions.
3. Injury liability
   As a volunteer participant in the OHA you are fully responsible for your own safety, and for your own personal insurance in case of injury. You are not considered an employee of the OHA, Ontario Nature, or any of our partners or sponsors. We are also not responsible for damage incurred to vehicles, equipment, or personal belongings.

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