This post was written by Patrick Douglas for Bio 227
nice to meet you! :)
Located in the grasslands of Sonoma
and Santa Barbara counties where it makes its home, the California Tiger
Salamander could be found nestled in vernal pools and ponds, which it uses as
mating grounds. A whopping 7 to 8 inches
of length in adulthood makes this Salamander enough to take any unsuspecting
traveler aback if not prepared for its size.
Fortunately, this creature wears a cute smile upon its face, and most of
its adult life is spent underground, inhabiting pre-existing holes made by
small mammals. However, unfortunately, the California Tiger
Salamander was listed as an endangered species in 2003. Previously categorized as a subspecies of
Tiger Salamander, the California Tiger Salamander was differentiated as its own
population by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service after the loss of their
seasonal wetlands, and thus, decline in population. Its endangered status was assigned in 2000 in
Santa Barbara County and in 2002 in Sonoma County. Additionally, it has been listed as
threatened throughout Central California since 2004.
MORE ABOUT THE CALIFORNIA TIGER
SALAMANDER
Female salamanders lay anywhere
from 1 to 14 eggs, which can be larvae for as long as 6 months, before
developing lungs and leaving their drying habitats in exahange for an
underground burrow. This journey can be
perilous, and take up several days and span an entire mile. This subterranean destination was previously
thought of as estivation (the summertime equivalent of hibernation) but thanks
to the modern wonder of tiny fiber optic cameras, we’ve actually been able to
observe the salamander foraging for worms and other insects underground.
RECOVERY PLAN
The purpose and ultimate goal of a
recovery plan is to de-list a species and return their population to a stable
level. The recovery plan of the
California Tiger Salamander is primarily about restoring habitat conditions,
protecting and managing those habitats, as well as maintaining population
diversity. The goal of this diversity is
to ensure that the populations will be less vulnerable to disease or genetic dangers. This recovery plan also addresses the need to
save the comprehensive ecosystem that the salamander calls home, rather than
just working on a single aspect or area of conservation. Restoring the environment and habitat itself results
in a trickle down effect in which the salamander will hopefully be able to make
its comeback in the wild. This plan
necessitates the restoration of the current geographical distributions of the
species, which may prove difficult due to the fact that its original
destruction and degradation occurred from human developments.
Movements from the Center For
Biological Diversity have lead to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposing
a designation of around 50,000 acres of habitat for Sonoma county
salamanders. None of the populations in
California had recovery plans prior to a 2012 law suit, which demanded a plan for each California salamander population, that we can now view today. For more on the history
of the salamander’s struggle, read here: http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/amphibians/California_tiger_salamander/
looks like a nice place to raise your kids! (if you're a California Tiger Salamander)
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