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About the Blogger! 3rd Year Ag Business Major at Cal Poly
I enjoy the outdoors and all it has to offer.
Here I am with a Red Belly Newt on
a hunting trip in Sonoma County.
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California Tiger
Salamander (Ambystoma Californiense)
Daniel Dentoni
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| Source: Wikipedia |
WHAT IS THE CALIFORNIA TIGER SALAMANDER?
The California Tiger Salamander is a large, stocky, terrestrial salamander that has a rounded snout (ECOS). There are many variations of the color and patterns on the back of this little guy. They range from white to pale yellow and can be spots or stripes that run along the backside. Its belly can be all white to pale yellow and can have a mix of both colors as well. Its entire body is black which makes the colors stick out to make a unique looking salamander. The adult males are about 8 inches long and the females are a little less than 7 inches (ECOS). The Salamanders occur in grassland or open woodland habitats where it lives in vacant or mammal-occupied burrows, and occasionally in other underground retreats (IUCN). Its eggs are laid on submerged stems and leaves in shallow permanent pools and ponds (IUCN)
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| Source: Californiaherps.com |
You can find this salamander throughout the state of California, but
primarily in the Sonoma and Santa Barbara Counties. These are the two counties
that list the salamander as being endangered. July 22nd 2002 the
salamanders where put as endangered in Sonoma County, while two years previous
on January 19th 2000, Santa Barbara County was listed. Anywhere else
throughout the state it is listed as being threatened. This came about on
August 4th 2004. The total population size is still unknown but
expected to be well above 10,000 (IUCN). The salamander’s historical breeding
grounds have been diminished by 75%. It is estimated that in Santa Barbara
County alone of the 14 documented breeding sites, half have been destroyed or
have suffered severe losses since mid-1999 (IUCN). The trend of them is on a
decreasing pattern. This destruction of breeding grounds has lead to the
diminished population size and a main reason for its listing. Development of
the state and the habitats where the salamander live are a constant and
continuous threat to its existence. Along with the development introduction of
many new exotic and invasive species have greatly reduced the population and
will continue if there is nothing done.
Luckily for the California Salamander there
is a plan to revive the diminishing population and eventually remove it off of
the endangered species act. Some of these new plans are to “Protect and manage
sufficient habitat within the metapopulation areas to support long-term
viability of the Santa Barbara County DPS of the California tiger salamander.
Secondly to reduce or remove other threats to the Santa Barbara Country DPS of
the California tiger salamander”(BLM Recovery Plan). This was as of April 2015.
They are trying to add more things into the recovery plan to better help out
the population of the California tiger salamander. For the Area they are trying
to get at least four functioning breeding ponds and 252 hectares of land around
each of these ponds. As a result they would like to see an increase of
population for the next 10 years. They want to remove predators such as
bullfrogs and fish. All these plans seem to show that they will help the
population of the salamander for years to come. It will be interesting to watch
how effective the new plan will be.
RESOURCES:
Ecology and Information on California tiger salamander
Retrieved
from:
Population information
Retrieved from:
Geoffrey
Hammerson 2004. Ambystoma californiense. The IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species. Version 2015.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 06
June 2015.
Recovery information
Retrieved
from:
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