CREATURES OF THE NORTHWEST COAST

LUNA LOISEAU-TREMBLAY

Photo © flickr.com/photos/johnclare

THE WANDERING SALAMANDER

One of my favourite creatures to see on wet forest walks are salamanders, clinging to the moss-covered rock faces dripping with maiden hair spleenwort, lichens, and fresh green moss. In British Columbia we have nine species of salamanders, six of which are on Vancouver Island. These are the Wandering Salamander, Western Longtoed Salamander, Western Redback Salamander, Ensatina, Roughskin Newt, and the Northwestern Salamander.

My personal favourite is the Wandering Salamander, Aneides vagrans, which has a designation of “species of special concern” (blue listed, 2014) with COSEWIC. It is long and slender, growing to around 3-5 inches in length. The tail is prehensile and the toes have square cut ends, thought to help in tree climbing. The body is a brown to light grey, mottled with little goldish-bronze flecks. The nature of these goldish flecks makes it look sparkly, like a starry sky, which is why this salamander is such a lovely species to find. It is a terrestrial salamander of the family Plethodontidae, the lungless salamanders.

Like many amphibians, the Wandering Salamander relies on cutaneous respiration and thus is restricted to damp microhabitats, such as under bark or inside cavities of decaying wood. Females lay their eggs in these decaying trees, such as large fallen timber or stumps; the young emerge in the late summer or fall and take three years to reach sexual maturity. Incredibly, the average age of an adult is between 8-11 years but they can live up to 20. it into perspective when we pass by a “salamander crossing" sign on the road, accidentally step on one, or take down an old stump in the back 40. Specific habitat requirements, such as tree size and decaying bark, and low reproductive and dispersal rates are other reasons that the wandering salamander is vulnerable.

Although this species can be found in forest edges, logged areas and even residential yards, it is dependent on large diameter fallen trees which are most abundant in intact old growth forests. Because of this, it is threatened by logging, residential development and an increase in events related to climate change, such as severe droughts and the potential for tsunamis which would damage any forested areas occupied by these salamanders. Their population is restricted to southwestern BC and coastal California, and because of the genetic similarities of these two populations, it is likely that the wandering salamander came north on natural log rafting events as a result of ocean currents.

My own experience with this species is finding them in old plywood stacked in the yard, swimming in a plant pot filled with rainwater on my deck, and coming across them on a forest walk or hike. A few months ago, a faller friend that was limbing a tree close by was surprised to find one high up in the canopy, while some school kids found a handful of tiny juveniles in a deep hole in a stump they were playing on. We are so fortunate to live in this beautiful temperate rainforest and learn from casual observation of the natural world around us.

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Variety of colours

availableFor more of Dr. Pincott’s articles visit www.PerceptiveHealth.ca or www.drpincott.com and www.bcna.ca to find an ND near you.

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