California Tiger Salamander
(scientific name: Ambystoma Californiense)
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| logo created by Miranda Pickett for the California Tiger Salamander |
Stages of Development:
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| salamander eggs out of water photographed by Joseph E DiDonato |
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| hatched larva photographed by Bill Stagnaro |
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| larva in early June photographed by Chad Lane |
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| California Tiger Salamander adult photographed by Michael Van Hattern |
Description & Ecology:
California Tiger Salamanders are recognized by yellow or
white spots across the sides of their black skinned back, legs and tail. This species is approximately 7-8 inches in
length, in which case the males average an inch longer than females
(Environmental Protection Agency). Their
eyes protrude from a rounded head and their two front feet have four unwebbed
toes whereas the back legs have five toes.
California Tiger Salamanders are reliant on the burrows other small
creatures, such as squirrels and gophers, dig as a place to rest during the
heat of summer. Moreover, the salamanders require rainfall for their winter
breeding migration to wetlands. Additionally,
maintaining the blennosperma
bakeri, lasthenia burkei, and limnanthes vinculans (pictured below) are vital because of these plants contribution to the salamanders’ habitat. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Services)
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| California Tiger Salamander (head) located in Santa Barbara County photographed by Gary Nafis |
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| California Tiger Salamander (body) located in Santa Barbara County photographed by Gary Nafis |
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| California Tiger Salamander (body) located in Sonoma County photographed by Edgar Ortega |
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| Blennosperma Bakeri photographed by Alan Wight |
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| Lasthenia Burkei photographed by Patrick Moeszinger |
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| Limnanthes Vinculans photographed by Stan Shebs |
Geographic & Population Changes:
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| Sonoma County Habitat for the California Tiger Salamander |
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| Credit: Office of Federal Register |
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| Urbanization causing habitat fragmentation credit: accommodation times.com |
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| credit: Crawl Illustrations |
The following are a few sample photographs taken of the California Tiger Salamander's Habitat throughout the year of 2013 by Mark Gary.
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| April |
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| May |
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| August |
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| September |
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| November |
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| December |
Date & Type of Listing:
In 2000, the California Tiger Salamander was listed as
endangered in the Santa Barbara County.
It was listed as endangered again two years later in the Sonoma
County. Another two years, 2004, and
this unfortunate salamander species was listed in Central California as
threatened; however, this means there has been improvement. Upon review the reports on the subject
species, the California Endangered Species Act, in 2010, listed the California
Tiger Salamander as threatened. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services)
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| Current Listing according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of the California Tiger Salamander |
Threats & Cause of Listing:
The main threat to the existence of California Tiger
Salamanders is habitat fragmentation. This consists of human alteration of land
and aquatic structures, invasive weeds, and disposal of wastewater and chemical
(U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services).
Some other threats include: an imbalance of rodent population as a
necessary relationship for the salamanders’ shelter, extended periods of
drought, disease as an added stressor, small population size, and lack of
genetic diversity. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services) Predators such as bullfrogs, mosquitos,
garter snakes, raccoons, blue herons, some non-native fish, and crayfish
likewise contribute to the salamanders’ difficult attempts at survival. (U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Services) Lastly, there is current discussion and ongoing research about possible hybridization threats from the Barred Tiger Salamander's introduction in the area (for more information on the Barred Tiger see supplementary resources listed at the end of this blog).
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| Bullfrog credit: Jarek Tuszynski |
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| Mosquito credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim |
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| Garter Snake credit: Jeff LeClere |
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| Raccoon credit: Getty Imag |
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| Blue Heron credit: Kozarluha |
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| Crayfish credit: animal-kid.com |
Description of Recovery Plan:
The California Tiger Salamander Recovery Plan’s goal is to
help create a self-sustaining environment by managing and preserving protected
habitat areas until genetic diversity and restoration in the population is
achieved. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Services) This particular project
recommends stabilizing three core areas with proper resources monitored to
improve survival rates of the salamanders.
These purposeful habitats would endeavor to reduce mortality and reach a
population of at least 5,400 at each of the three cites. (U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Services) Currently effort is focused on research about the species and habitat restoration.
Key Terms:
- habitat- "the place or type of place where a plant or animal naturally or normally lives or grows" (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
- urbanization- cities and towns are built in rural areas
- agriculture- "the science, art, or occupation concerned with cultivating land, raising crops, and feeding, breeding, and raising livestock; farming" (dictionary.com)
- habitat degradation- to wear down or reduce the quality of an environment, can be done by human influence or natural causes
- fragmentation- "act or process of breaking into fragments" or pieces (thefreedictionary.com)
- aquatic- "pertaining to water" (dictionary.com)
- hybridization- "to produce a hybrid", "the offspring of genetically dissimilar parents [...] of different varieties or species" (thefreedictionary.com)
Supplementary References:
Environmental
Protection Agency Report on California Tiger Salamander-
The introduction of the Barred Tiger Salamanders and how hybridization effects the ecology of the population and community of the California Tiger Salamander-
Fitzpatrick, Benjamin M., et al. "Rapid Spread Of
Invasive Genes Into A Threatened Native Species." Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences Of The United States Of
America 107.8 (2010): 3606-3610. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.
Ryan, Maureen E., et al. "Lethal Effects Of Water
Quality On Threatened California Salamanders But Not On Co-Occurring Hybrid
Salamanders." Conservation Biology
27.1 (2013): 95-102. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.
Wilcox, Jeffery T., et al. "Possible Phenotypic
Influence Of Superinvasive Alleles On Larval California Tiger Salamanders
(Ambystoma Californiense)." American
Midland Naturalist 173.1 (2015): 168-175. Academic Search Premier. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.
Effective population size-
Wang, Ian J., et al. "Effective population size is
strongly correlated with breeding pond size in the endangered California tiger
salamander, Ambystoma californiense." Conservation Genetics 12.4
(2011): 911-920.
Pictures of the California Tiger Salamander-
Charity and facts about the salamander with videos-
Classes and workshops relating to the California Tiger Salamander-
Straightforward Information-
facts about California Tiger Salamander for kids
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