Conservation groups in Quebec are trying to save a rare, endangered salamander before it's too late. But the first step is finding the secretive amphibian.
“We spend hours turning over rocks and then finally find one. It's always a joy,” said Laura Molina, searching a cold creek near Saint-Ferdinand, Quebec, about 200 kilometres east of Montreal.
Molina is a project manager. Concert group of bass players in the Becancourt area (GROBEC), a group that aims to protect the Bécancour River watershed, has been counting the spring salamander population in the Chaudière-Appalachian region for about two weeks with the support of the Quebec and federal governments.
This colorful species can reach a length of 23 centimeters. It is one of the largest salamanders without lungs or gills. It breathes through its skin and can live up to 10 years.
Environment and Climate Change Canada published a management plan for the spring salamander in 2013, describing it as a large river salamander native to the Appalachian Mountains. It is at the northern limit of its range in southeastern Quebec.
A conservation group in Quebec is trying to save the spring salamander by counting them and studying their lifestyle. The province says it also has a plan to help the endangered species.
The species was also known to inhabit the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario, but has not been seen there since 1877.
The report says it inhabits small, clean, cool, well-oxygenated streams with rocky bottoms and no fish – habitat requirements that are a limiting factor for the species.
1 salamander at a time
The spring salamander is considered a vulnerable and endangered species under provincial and federal law.
They're so rare that the province doesn't even know how many there are in Quebec. And as Molina points out, finding them takes persistence, knowing where to look, and the perfect temperature.
“They are very sensitive to temperature. They have to be cold. If it is too hot, they do not come out, they burrow into the ground because their skin dries out and they cannot breathe,” she said.
A study conducted about 10 years ago identified where the salamanders live, and that's where Molina's group is looking.
In addition to counting the species' numbers, the group is keeping track of other salamanders and looking for anything that might pose a threat to the amphibians' habitat.
According to the group, 94 percent of spring salamander habitat is on private lands.
“It's very special to find rare species,” Molina said. “And especially to know that despite all the changes in the environment. I think it says something about the region, about how the region takes care of the streams.”
Recovery plan says more research needed
The province's recovery plan for the species, published in 2021, says knowledge gaps remain, particularly regarding the status and trends of populations and the extent and significance of threats to the species and its habitat.
By 2031, Quebec plans to continue studying the species, protect its habitat, and determine what it needs to thrive. Finally, a communication strategy must be developed and implemented to ensure, among other things, the success of sound agricultural and forestry practices, the recovery plan says.
Currently, Quebec's plan states that the limiting factors for the spring salamander's survival are its habitat requirements and its late sexual maturity.
The physiological constraints imposed by cutaneous respiration limit the species' ability to disperse and make it particularly sensitive to any changes, degradation, or loss of habitat.
“In Quebec, agricultural and forest runoff, which causes sedimentation and alters water quality, is considered the most significant negative impact on species,” the restoration plan says.
“Other threats with moderate impacts on communities include water management and use, transportation and service corridors, and logging.”
Meanwhile, measures are already being taken to ensure the protection of the salamander.