~play this while reading for the appropriate ambience~

The Traveling Tiger Salamander:
Sonoma County Distinct Population Segment of the California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense)
By Sunnyjoy Dupuis

from calacademy.org

  

This little guy needs our help! Ambystoma californiense is an endearing, chubby black salamander with whitish-yellow spots that spends its days in the vacant burrows of the underground. The Sonoma County California distinct population segment of tiger salamander is endemic to the Santa Rosa plain and the valleys of the central coast: a grassland habitat with vernal pools - seasonal, shallow pools of freshwater - that provide temporary wetlands habitats beginning in the winter and drying up by late spring. These vernal pools are crucial for the tiger salamander’s mating activities.  The tiger salamander lays its eggs on stems and leaves in the safety of these shallow waters, where they hatch and develop; thus, without access - or existence - of these vernal pools, no recruitment will occur.  Also, FUN FACT! the California tiger salamander has the second longest dispersal distance of any salamander!  They travel up to two and a half kilometers each mating season.  (uh-oh. red flag.)

from http://www.spn.usace.army.mil/Missions/Regulatory/RegulatoryOverview/PoliciesontheSantaRosaPlain.aspx

Before humans began taking over the tiger salamander’s home, the species covered an area of about 100,000 acres of vernal-pool-scattered land in California.  Currently, they have been forced into an area of about 18,000-20,000 acres of scattered patches of suitable habitat (see picture below).  It is estimated that a total 80% of the vernal pools have disappeared from the land.  Although little is known about what population sizes were like in the past (since the slimy salamanders spend their days underground) current populations consist of only a few or a few dozen breeding individuals.

The Sonoma County Distinct population segment of the California tiger salamander was found to be endangered in 2003, and was listed as threatened statewide in 2009.  

The main threat to these creatures is habitat destruction caused by agriculture and commercial development in the area.  These types of conversions of the fragile habitat have caused the population to be fragmented, putting the salamanders at greater danger of being affected by random “stochastic” events like disease or incest that could further imperil the threatened species.  In addition, the development and fragmentation hinders the tiger salamander’s ability to migrate from the grassland non-breeding habitat to the vernal pool habitat for mating in the spring, or vise versa.  That 2.5 km journey gets a lot more complicated through streets, fences, apartment complexes, and monocultures... How will the little fellas find their way to their mates?  At the same time, the tiger salamanders are struggling to fight overutilization, disease, predation, and climate change.

By Michael G. Van Hattem

To save the Sonoma County California population of tiger salamanders, we must save their homes.  The Santa Rosa Plain Conservation Strategy was put in place to preserve the best patches of habitat in the area, centered around core locations of historical abundance, that can promote more easy-dispersal and less fragmentation for the tiger salamander and the other listed species in the area.  These areas are shown in the map below.  It also set up boundaries within the distribution of the tiger salamander and its friends for areas where no more development should occur.  Conservation banks have also set aside certain vernal pools and grassland areas under conservation easements.  These efforts and plans for more in the future are being put to work in hopes to reduce the threats to these cute little creatures and to help them get back on their feet to sustain their populations far into the future.

*Information taken from US Fish & Wildlife Service “Draft Recovery Plan for the Santa Rosa Plain” and the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species*