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July 2016
Association of Wetland Stewards for Clayoquot & Barkley Sounds
SPLAT UPDATE
Activity Report for 2015-16
activities
Research & Monitoring:
We are an environmental nonprofit organization working
on the west coast of
Vancouver Island to conserve
habitat for amphibians. Our
primary focus has been on
finding ways to reduce road
mortality and restore
connections between habitats
used by migrating frogs and
salamanders. This work has
led us to discover new
information about several
species that contributes to
their conservation.
and Northwestern Salamanders
as a means of tracking
population sizes. We are
encouraged by the stable
counts at most sites, especially
at population hotspots around
the Tofino-Ucluelet Junction.
This report also highlights a
visit to Cleland Island
Ecological Reserve to check on
the presence of the enigmatic
Wandering Salamander
(Aneides vagrans). A species
normally known to live under
bark and inside the cracks of
This report describes our
large logs in coastal forests, the
annual activities: maintaining Wandering Salamander seems
fences and culverts that lead
quite at home beneath the
amphibians under Highway 4 driftwood and other flotsam
and counting egg masses laid that accumulates on this treeby Northern Red-legged Frogs less island. How did it get
Checking on the Wandering
Salamanders at Cleland
Island Ecological Reserve.
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Maintaining fences, and
monitoring amphibians and
other wildlife moving
through highway culverts.
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Surveying breeding
populations of Northern
Red-Legged Frogs and
Northwestern Salamanders.
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Education & Outreach:
Contributing information to a
COSEWIC species-at-risk
status report.
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Telling our culvert story to
Ryerson University’s XING
Project, presentations to the
Arrowsmith Naturalists, and
now we’re on Facebook!
What’s Next …?
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there? Now that’s a good question!
We also report our efforts to share what we
have learned with others. By making data
contributions to status reports published by
the Committee on the Status of Endangered
Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) and
registering our frog tunnel with Ryerson
University’s Ecological Design Lab, we are
glad to help promote conservation beyond
our region. Please read on for more details!
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Association of Wetland Stewards for Clayoquot & Barkley Sounds
July 2016
Cleland Island Ecological Reserve is
well known as an important
breeding site for seabirds like
Rhinoceros Auklets and Storm
Petrels. It’s probably the last place
you’d think to look for salamanders!
Salamanders at a Seabird
Sanctuary
In May 2015, we had a chance to visit Cleland Island with
a team of seabird biologists from the Canadian Wildlife
Service. While they retrieved geolocators from nesting
Rhinoceros Auklets, we sampled salamanders living
under the drift logs, plastic floats, and sytrofoam blocks
that had washed ashore. We found plenty of one species,
the Wandering Salamander (Aneides vagrans), confirming
its continued persistence in what seems to be a surprising
environment for an amphibian.
The Wandering Salamander is an unusual amphibian for
a variety of reasons. First, it is within the family of
salamanders that are solely terrestrial. It does not go to
water to lay its eggs and there is no “tadpole” stage.
Instead, it finds a moist place usually within a crack of a
large log where it lays a small cluster of eggs that hatch
directly into miniature salamanders. Second, it has no
lungs. It breathes across the moist surfaces of its skin and
therefore needs to live in moist habitats. Third, its range
is split into two widely separated areas. It occurs in
northern California and on Vancouver Island, but not in
between. Biologists scratch their heads about the origins
of the species. Salamanders on Vancouver Island are
genetically similar to populations in Humboldt County,
California, and one researcher has proposed that they
were introduced with tanoak bark imported to Victoria
for leather tanning during the early 1900s. Others
disagree. They find it impossible to imagine how
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salamanders could have dispersed from
Victoria so widely across the Vancouver
Island and onto small offshore islands like
Cleland. Instead, perhaps they floated in with
large drift logs. Or, maybe Cleland Island was
part of a glacial refugium during the last ice
age. These are interesting questions for future
research. For now, their presence warrants
special consideration for retaining the habitats
used by this species on Cleland Island,
including some large plastic floats!
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Association of Wetland Stewards for Clayoquot & Barkley Sounds
July 2016
Maintenance of fencing and culverts to reduce road
mortality of migrating frogs and salamanders
Hundreds of salamanders and frogs, including the
Northern Red-legged Frog, a species at risk in
Canada, cross Highway 4 just north of the
Ucluelet-Tofino Junction. They migrate to and from
a 4-ha breeding pond called Swan Lake. The B.C.
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure
installed a box culvert to serve as an amphibian
underpass and reduce the numbers killed by traffic
in the area in 2011. Since then, we’ve monitored the
culvert with wildlife cameras. It works well, in
large part because we installed fences to help
amphibians find their way from the forest to the
culvert.
at the attachment points to the culvert during 4 rainy
nights in late September. We modified the
attachments, making sure that the overhanging lip did
not touch the wall. During a rainy week of surveillance
in September 2015, we saw less climbing activity and
only 11 juvenile Treefrogs escape. The repaired fences
are certainly more effective but we marvel at how
some Treefrogs can still climb around the overhanging
lip!
Each year we rely on volunteers to help us
maintain the integrity of the fences. Regular
checking helps ensure that fallen branches are
cleared away and the fabric remains attached to the
plastic stakes and cedar rails.
The new fences have an overhanging lip, meant to
make it difficult for frogs and salamanders to climb
over the top. We set up cameras at the entrance of
the culvert each fall. In 2014, we were disappointed
to see more than 140 juvenile Treefrogs climb over
More than frogs and salamanders use the culverts
under Highway 4. Our cameras regularly capture
images of squirrels, mice, shrews, marten, mink,
ermine, and even the occasional black bear!
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Association of Wetland Stewards for Clayoquot & Barkley Sounds
July 2016
Monitoring Breeding Populations
In February 2016, we conducted our 10th consecutive annual
count of egg masses at Swan Lake. Northern Red-legged
Frogs laid a record number – just over 2100! As usual, there
were about half as many Northwestern Salamander egg
masses.
Most wetlands had similar numbers as in past years,
indicating that both species are doing well in the region. A
couple of reasons for our healthy populations: we have
unpolluted water, plenty of moist forested habitats
surrounding ponds, and no invasive Bullfrogs. Our efforts
to reduce road mortality also help keep numbers high.
One wetland with a lower count was in an area adjacent to a
forest that was logged during the winter of 2015. Water
levels were higher at the site during our count than in
previous years. It is too soon to draw any conclusions. We
plan to conduct more intensive monitoring there next year.
Stream restoration work has cleared the debris that blocked
fish access in the tributary from Lost Shoe Creek to Swan
Lake. To date, no fish have moved into the lake, at least we
haven’t caught any while sampling tadpoles each May. We
are curious to see whether Coho, Cutthroat and Sticklebacks
will begin to reside in Swan Lake. If so, our baseline data
will help us determine their effect on amphibian breeding
populations.
ACO Fencing
Thanks to many volunteer hours and
staff at Pacific Rim National Park
Reserve, we were able to continue
tracking trends in breeding populations
of Northern Red-legged Frogs and
Northwestern Salamanders at some key
sites. Counts of egg masses have been
stable in Pacific Rim National Park
Reserve and increasing at Swan Lake.
We are grateful to both Relic
Surf Shop and the Cascadia
Board Company for helping
support our use of stand up
paddleboards to count egg
masses during the winter
surveys!
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Association of Wetland Stewards for Clayoquot & Barkley Sounds
July 2016
Sharing information to promote amphibian conservation
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in
Canada published an updated status report on the
Northern Red-legged Frog in 2015. We contributed our
long-term breeding population survey data.
The species is assessed as being of “Special Concern” in
Canada because of local declines and disappearances over
the past 10 years. These declines happened in the Lower
Fraser Valley and southeastern Vancouver Island where
Red-legged Frog habitat is lost to urban development and
introduced American Bullfrogs. We showed that
populations on the west coast of Vancouver Island are
doing much better. Turns out that Swan Lake is the most
productive breeding site for Northern Red-legged Frogs
known in Canada! We hope it stays that way! Even so, the
report identified several threats to the species in less
human-populated areas. These include: road mortality,
pollution, illegally stocked fish, water management, and
logging operations.
Our efforts have focused on reducing road mortality but
we are vigilant about other threats as well, particularly in
and around the most productive breeding sites at the
Tofino-Ucluelet Junction.
A wildlife crossing project is underway at Ryerson
University in collaboration with ARC Solutions. It’s called
“Xing (Re)Connecting Landscapes”. In 2015, they began
developing a National Wildlife Crossing Infrastructure
database. We submitted information about our culvert on
Highway 4. We applaud their efforts to bring attention to
the need for wildlife passages across Canada.
COSEWIC
Assessment and Status Report
on the
Northern Red-legged Frog
Rana aurora
in Canada
SPECIAL CONCERN
2015
We provided information from our surveys of
Northern Red-legged Frogs to the Committee on
the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
Photo courtesy of Todd Pierson
An important outreach activity for us, each year, is to
spread the word to residents and visitors to be alert
for invasive Bullfrogs west of Port Alberni. We ask
people to report any sightings to us on Facebook, by
email, or by submission to the BC Frogwatch website.
American Bullfrogs are a key threat to B.C.’s
native species, including the Red-legged Frog.
Our newspaper article and slideshow presentation to
the Arrowsmith Naturalists highlighted key
messages for how to prevent the spread of Bullfrogs
to the west coast. The main message: Do not move
frogs from one pond to another. Enjoy them in the
wild!
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July 2016
Association of Wetland Stewards for Clayoquot & Barkley Sounds
What’s Next …?
Writing grant applications in the winter of 2016 was
worthwhile. The Clayoquot Biosphere Trust will generously
support two of our projects over the next year!
One involves mapping amphibian breeding habitats within
the salty “spray zone” along the outer coast. Most people
associate amphibians with freshwater rather than marine
habitats. Little is known about the ecology of amphibians
using brackish ponds. We are curious about why some frogs
and salamanders choose to lay their eggs so close to the
ocean. We will collect information on the size and salinity of
the ponds and the fate of the tadpoles growing up within
them.
Our second project will take a closer look at the data
collected over the past 15 years on road mortality and the
effectiveness of the highway culverts in providing safe
passage for amphibians. One of the key questions we will
address is whether the risk of predation by mink and marten
is a serious issue for frogs and salamanders moving through
the confined space in the culverts. Do predators use the
culverts to help them catch dinner?
Mapping frog ponds within the salt
spray zone of the coast.
Funding from the Clayoquot
Biosphere Trust will also help
us write up our results for
publication. We hope that our
work will be useful to others
who are tackling similar
questions elsewhere.
We gratefully acknowledge our volunteers and supporters for 2015 – 2016:
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B.C. Ministry of Environment
B.C. Ministry of Transportation
Cascadia Board Company
Relic Surf Shop
Pacific Rim National Park
Reserve
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Jeanne Ferris
Rhiannon Moore
Colleen Murchison
Rylee Murray
Todd Pierson
Destiny Poruchny
Mandala Smulders
Board of Directors: Barb Beasley, Ewen Brittain, Tanya Dowdall, Gerry Schreiber, Jackie Windh
P.O. Box 927
Ucluelet, British Columbia, V0R 3A0
[email protected]
www.splatfrogtunnel.blogspot.ca
250-726-2536
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