Tiger Salamander
Featured Animal: August 2018
By Laura Allard and Dr. Nicki Frey
Identification and Biology
Tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) are widespread amphibians found throughout North America. Tiger salamanders are the only salamander that lives in Utah. They are the world's largest terrestrial salamander - those that spend most of their adult lives on the ground - reaching 6 to 13 inches in length. Tiger salamanders are often dark brown-black with white spots; however, they can range in color from greenish-grey to black.
Like all amphibians, tiger salamanders develop inside an aquatic egg for 2-4 weeks, at which point they hatch as a tadpole (juvenile stage). Tiger salamanders typically take approximately 4 months to develop into the fully terrestrial salamander without gills. However, in some populations of tiger salamanders, they stop physically developing at the juvenile stage while still reaching sexual maturity. Scientists speculate that this happens because of a lack of iodine in the water, preventing the further stage of development. Tiger salamanders are nocturnal creatures, often only visible at night near wet areas or after a rain. (Photo of Tiger Salamander here with text wrapping)
Habitat
In Utah, tiger salamanders occur in most natural areas that are near water. They tend to live their adult lives underground occupying abandoned rodent, tortoise or crayfish holes. They also can create their own burrows in soft soil. This burrowing nature has helped coin one of the Tiger salamander's common names: mole salamander. Due to their need for constant moisture, tiger salamanders also tend to hide in cool, shady, and damp places like under rocks and logs, or even in damp basements. When people find tiger salamanders in their yards, they are often in window wells, sprinkler boxes and other similarly moist areas.
Conflicts and Conservation
Tiger salamanders are very sensitive to any changes in their aquatic environments because they absorb oxygen, water and nutrients through their skin, like most other amphibians. This makes them an “indicator species” becuase they quickly react to toxins and pollutants in the water and soil. Furthermore, the direct number of amphibians in an area can indicate the relative health of an ecosystem, i.e., the more amphibians there are, the less pollutants there are, and thus a more healthy ecosystem. (Possible photo here of Salamanders near pollutants?). Habitat loss, urbanization, environmental pollution and climate change are all factors that cause declines in salamander populations around the world. Of the approximately 560 known species of salamanders, nearly 40% of them are classified as endangered.
Humans can directly and indirectly affect amphibian populations by introducing pollutants and reducing water quality of an area. Unfortunately, normal urban development introduces many problematic situations for amphibians like tiger salamanders, such as use of pesticides in agriculture, release of waste from industrial factories into water supplies, sewer treatment, habitat loss, reduced connectivity because of roads, etc. Locally, we can introduce pollutants through fertilizer and pesticide runoff around our houses.
Additionally, many people directly impact tiger salamander populations. For example, tiger salamander eggs are collected within the Utah area and sold as fish bait. If eggs are harvested from a sensitive area or too many eggs are harvested, this can lead to a decline in salamanders. Currently, there are restrictions on the sale of salamander eggs, to reduce this effect. However, this does not account for eggs that are harvested for personal use.
Some subpopulations of tiger salamanders have experienced more than a 40% population decline in the last few decades. What does this mean for us? When salamander populations decline this can impact the surrounding ecosystem. Salamanders predominantly eat insects. Tiger salamanders need to eat twice their body weight in insects weekly. Clearly they are an important species for keeping unwanted insect populations in check. Currently, the California tiger salamander is considered a federally endangered species. With help from you, we can prevent Utah’s tiger salamanders sharing their fate.
How to Help the Tiger Salamander, and Other Amphibians
Geoffrey Hammerson. 2004. Ambystoma californiense. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T1098A3234573. Accessed August 1, 2018. <http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T1098A3234573.en.>
National Park Service. 2015. Tiger salamander. Accessed August 2018. <https://www.nps.gov/brca/learn/nature/tigersalamander.htm>
The Future of Things. 2017. Salamanders as an ecological indicator. Accessed July 2018 <http://thefutureofthings.com/4684-salamanders-as-an-ecological-indicator/>
The Hogle Zoo. 2018. Tiger salamander. Accessed July 2018. <https://www.hoglezoo.org/meet_our_animals/animal_finder/tiger_salamander/>
Utah Division of Wildlife Resoruces. Nd. Tiger salamander. Accessed July 2018. <https://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search/Display.asp?FlNm=ambytigr>
Featured Animal: August 2018
By Laura Allard and Dr. Nicki Frey
Identification and Biology
Tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum) are widespread amphibians found throughout North America. Tiger salamanders are the only salamander that lives in Utah. They are the world's largest terrestrial salamander - those that spend most of their adult lives on the ground - reaching 6 to 13 inches in length. Tiger salamanders are often dark brown-black with white spots; however, they can range in color from greenish-grey to black.
Like all amphibians, tiger salamanders develop inside an aquatic egg for 2-4 weeks, at which point they hatch as a tadpole (juvenile stage). Tiger salamanders typically take approximately 4 months to develop into the fully terrestrial salamander without gills. However, in some populations of tiger salamanders, they stop physically developing at the juvenile stage while still reaching sexual maturity. Scientists speculate that this happens because of a lack of iodine in the water, preventing the further stage of development. Tiger salamanders are nocturnal creatures, often only visible at night near wet areas or after a rain. (Photo of Tiger Salamander here with text wrapping)
Habitat
In Utah, tiger salamanders occur in most natural areas that are near water. They tend to live their adult lives underground occupying abandoned rodent, tortoise or crayfish holes. They also can create their own burrows in soft soil. This burrowing nature has helped coin one of the Tiger salamander's common names: mole salamander. Due to their need for constant moisture, tiger salamanders also tend to hide in cool, shady, and damp places like under rocks and logs, or even in damp basements. When people find tiger salamanders in their yards, they are often in window wells, sprinkler boxes and other similarly moist areas.
Conflicts and Conservation
Tiger salamanders are very sensitive to any changes in their aquatic environments because they absorb oxygen, water and nutrients through their skin, like most other amphibians. This makes them an “indicator species” becuase they quickly react to toxins and pollutants in the water and soil. Furthermore, the direct number of amphibians in an area can indicate the relative health of an ecosystem, i.e., the more amphibians there are, the less pollutants there are, and thus a more healthy ecosystem. (Possible photo here of Salamanders near pollutants?). Habitat loss, urbanization, environmental pollution and climate change are all factors that cause declines in salamander populations around the world. Of the approximately 560 known species of salamanders, nearly 40% of them are classified as endangered.
Humans can directly and indirectly affect amphibian populations by introducing pollutants and reducing water quality of an area. Unfortunately, normal urban development introduces many problematic situations for amphibians like tiger salamanders, such as use of pesticides in agriculture, release of waste from industrial factories into water supplies, sewer treatment, habitat loss, reduced connectivity because of roads, etc. Locally, we can introduce pollutants through fertilizer and pesticide runoff around our houses.
Additionally, many people directly impact tiger salamander populations. For example, tiger salamander eggs are collected within the Utah area and sold as fish bait. If eggs are harvested from a sensitive area or too many eggs are harvested, this can lead to a decline in salamanders. Currently, there are restrictions on the sale of salamander eggs, to reduce this effect. However, this does not account for eggs that are harvested for personal use.
Some subpopulations of tiger salamanders have experienced more than a 40% population decline in the last few decades. What does this mean for us? When salamander populations decline this can impact the surrounding ecosystem. Salamanders predominantly eat insects. Tiger salamanders need to eat twice their body weight in insects weekly. Clearly they are an important species for keeping unwanted insect populations in check. Currently, the California tiger salamander is considered a federally endangered species. With help from you, we can prevent Utah’s tiger salamanders sharing their fate.
How to Help the Tiger Salamander, and Other Amphibians
- Be mindful of what pollutants you introduce into water. Do not dump pesticides of any kind into local waterways, ponds, streams etc. Also avoid pouring chemicals onto the ground, because when it rains, those chemicals can be washed into your local water, and thus cause problems for wildlife and even for you.
- Properly dispose of any household chemicals. Look online to see if your community has a Hazardous Materials drop off area, do not dump those chemicals down your drain! If you can avoid just throwing the chemicals into the trash and being sent to a landfill, please do so!
- Don't sell or collect amphibian eggs or juveniles or adults without proper licensing. The chances of accidentally creating a population of amphibians outside of their natural range can be quite high if selling eggs to just anyone. Plus, these animals need very specific habitats to survive and thrive, keeping them as pets may be abusive to them.
Geoffrey Hammerson. 2004. Ambystoma californiense. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2004: e.T1098A3234573. Accessed August 1, 2018. <http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T1098A3234573.en.>
National Park Service. 2015. Tiger salamander. Accessed August 2018. <https://www.nps.gov/brca/learn/nature/tigersalamander.htm>
The Future of Things. 2017. Salamanders as an ecological indicator. Accessed July 2018 <http://thefutureofthings.com/4684-salamanders-as-an-ecological-indicator/>
The Hogle Zoo. 2018. Tiger salamander. Accessed July 2018. <https://www.hoglezoo.org/meet_our_animals/animal_finder/tiger_salamander/>
Utah Division of Wildlife Resoruces. Nd. Tiger salamander. Accessed July 2018. <https://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/Search/Display.asp?FlNm=ambytigr>
