California Tiger Salamander
By: Ryan Rubendall
Overview
This California Tiger Salamander is a large, broad, and stocky salamander. It is separated from the rest by its broad rounded snout. Its size ranges from 7-8 inches, with the males reaching up to 8 inches and females getting to almost 7 inches fully grown. The color of a California Tiger Salamander depends on its age and location. The adult salamander is typically black or dark grey, with yellow or white oval spots placed across their body. While, the juvenile salamanders are typically olive green and typically don't have any spots, or markings across their bodies. They have small eyes that pop out of their heads, and a distinguished yellow coloring around their mouth, making it look like they are always smiling.They are specifically found in the Sonoma county and the Santa Barbra County.
Habitat
The California Tiger Salamander has a complex life style, in its mixture of habitats it lives in throughout the year. Their main habitat are in low foothills or grasslands with pools and rivers for reproduction throughout the year. During reproduction the salamander is found in wetlands or rivers. They usually lay eggs underwater or on debris close to the water, individually or in groups. The salamanders lurk in and around the water until they are juveniles and are ready to leave. Once they get to this stage and reproduction is over they travel to grasslands or oak woodlands where they live underground, in burrows or holes made by other animals. Based upon which habitat they are in at the time depends on what these specific animals will eat. Adult salamanders are typically known to not eat a lot, but when they do its mostly: insects, mosquito larvae, or tadpoles. As stated before the salamander is ranged from the Santa Barbra County to the Sonoma County.
Recovery Listing
The Fish and Wildlife Service established the California Tiger Salamander threatened on September 3, 2004. The fish and Wildlife Service stated the reason for this listing was due to habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation. These were caused by the urban development and conversion to agricultural in the areas specified above. On December 27, 2004 the Fish and Wildlife Service made another rule by designating critical habitat for the Santa Barbra County population. In this rule 11,180 acres fell in the habitat designation, for these salamanders. On September 30, 2011 the Fish and Wildlife Service came out with another rule designating revised critical habitat in the Sonoma County. In this rule they designated about 47,383 acres for the California Tiger Salamander. The California Tiger Salamander was officially listed endangered in Santa Barbra County on January 19, 2000 and endangered in the Sonoma County on July 22, 2002. The reasons for these listings was due to the same listed above for it becoming threatened in central California. Throughout the years from 2000 and now the Fish and Wildlife Service has designated habitat and made multiple plans to help keep the Salamander alive.
Recovery Plan
The California Tiger Salamander has a very complex and pricy recovery plan that will take decades to show the result criteria. Lucky enough for the Salamander it has a determined team to help it recover and be able to get off the endangered and threatened list. In the Santa Barbra County the Fish and Wildlife Service established a recovery plan for this specie in 2015. The recovery plan consists of protect and manage the habitat the salamanders are living and reproducing in, limit all threats, prevent and remove the potential of a transmitted disease, and try to educate the population surrounding the salamanders on how to help. This specific plan is taking multiple steps to enforce.
1. preserving four functional ponds for reproduction
2. a minimum of 623 acres around each of those ponds
3. 1600 acres on top of that with at least 50% of it unfragmented and partially reserved land
Following these three steps will allow the habitats they live in to not be disturbed and allow specialists to have close eyes on them at all times.This recovery plan will cost approximately $46,806,000 and if ran right will show the recovery criteria results in 2045.
Click Here for the full recovery plan
WATCH BELOW
Personal Action
The biggest way to help the California Tiger Salamanders is spread the word and help educate people all throughout California not just in those counties. Educating everyone throughout the state will make people think about urbanizing a location before they do it. It will also help people rethink about putting road barriers or drying up a pond, so they can put their business their. Lets help make the salamanders be happy again and allow them to show their natural smile in numbers once again!
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP
1. SPREAD THE WORD AND EDUCATE
2. JOIN THE TEAM
Link to website for anyone who wants to train and join the team to help save the endangered California Tiger Salamander
3. THINK BEFORE YOU BUILD
Sources
https://baynature.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/11-133.jpg
http://hcp.stanford.edu/salamander.html
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20for%20the%20Santa%20Barbara%20DPS%20of%20California%20Tiger%20Salamander%20(1).pdf
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr4278.pdf
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/federal_register/fr4355.pdf
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-08-31/pdf/2011-21945.pdf
http://ecos.fws.gov/docs/recovery_plan/Draft%20Recovery%20Plan%20for%20the%20Santa%20Barbara%20DPS%20of%20California%20Tiger%20Salamander%20(1).pdf
http://www.fws.gov/endangered/species/recovery-plans.html
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DGJLDVqdFUM/hqdefault.jpg
I have never seen one of these guys. I had no idea they even lived in the area. Thanks so much for sharing about them. It is really interesting to me that they only need four ponds for reproduction, which does not seem like that much, but they need so much adjacent area for them to grow. #bio227fall2015
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting animal, and I enjoyed learning more about it through your pictures and youtube videos! Good job! #BIO227Fall2015
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