Endangered salamanders granted safe passage in Caledon

March 31, 2022 · 0 Comments

By Zachary Roman

Endangered Jefferson salamanders are being run over by vehicles in Caledon.

Ontario Streams, a charity dedicated to the conservation and rehabilitation of Ontario stream, river and wetland habitats, has secured funding to help save these forest-dwelling amphibians.

On March 25, the charity announced it had secured $81,807 from Ontario’s Species at Risk Stewardship Program for a Jefferson salamander habitat project.

Jefferson salamanders were deemed threatened when Ontario’s Endangered Species Act came into effect in 2008. On June 8, 2011, the salamanders were reassessed and determined to be endangered.

According to the Government of Ontario’s species at risk webpage, Jefferson salamanders have grey or brown backs, with lighter underbellies. Adult Jeffersons can be up to 20 centimetres in length, half of which is in their tails.

In Canada, they’re only found in the deciduous forests of Southern Ontario, most commonly along the Niagara Escarpment.

Jefferson salamanders can often be found under rocks, stumps, and in rodent burrows. They mainly eat insects and worms.

The installation of a new eco-passage at a “known road crossing in the Town of Caledon” is a big part of the Ontario Streams salamander project. An eco-passage will provide Jefferson salamanders with a safe way to cross under the road, which in turn should decrease road mortality rates.

An eco-passage consists of fencing next to a road that smaller animals cannot get past. They’re then forced to walk along the fencing until they find a culvert which allows them to pass under the road safely.

Mark Heaton is a senior biologist with Ontario Streams and explained the location of the new eco-passage won’t be released as there’s people who might steal the salamanders, hindering conservation efforts.

“That way they remain protected,” said Heaton.

Heaton worked with Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources for 35 years before beginning his current role at Ontario Streams. Through his work at the Ministry, he was aware of the struggles of Jefferson salamanders and other endangered species.

He said he knew of salamanders in Caledon who didn’t have protection from road mortality.

“That’s directly related to people driving over them at nine o’clock at night when you can’t see them,” said Heaton.

The new eco-passage in Caledon is expected to be complete by the end of 2022. Ontario Streams will be partnering with Credit Valley Conservation, Nature Conservancy of Canada, Bruce Trail Conservancy, the Town of Caledon, York Region and the Region of Peel on the project as a whole.

Heather Lynn, an ecologist with Credit Valley Conservation, has been studying salamanders in the region for over 20 years. Her experience makes her an authority on Jefferson salamanders and that’s why Heaton reached out to her to be an advisor on the project.

In addition to the eco-passage, another big part of the Jefferson salamander project will be increasing the number of suitable breeding ponds for the salamanders through habitat restoration. By the end of 2022, at least five breeding ponds will have had habitat restoration work done.

According to Lynn, the formal name for these breeding ponds is vernal pools. They are incredibly important in Jefferson salamanders’ life cycle. Most vernal pools are depressions in the ground that become filled with water in one way or another.

“Sometimes they have some groundwater… a spring that kind of percolates up and brings some water to the surface,” said Lynn. “But a lot of cases it’s snow melt and then the spring rains will fill that pond.”

Heaton explained the specific conditions that are best for Jefferson salamanders breeding.

“Ideal conditions are ponds in forests that are about half-a-metre to a metre deep in the springtime, and they gradually dry out over the course of June through August,” said Heaton.

“By the end of August, the ponds are dry. That’s really important for the nursery habitat for baby Jefferson salamanders so that they don’t get eaten by fish. So, the ponds dry out and therefore (are) not inhabitable by fish.”

Heaton said 90 per cent of salamanders that breed in any given pond spend their entire lives within 300 metres of that pond. If a pond is compromised for any reason, the salamanders don’t know how to find another one.

“They’re creatures of habit… they don’t know to go any further,” said Heaton. “So that’s where we get into problems with ponds being drained prematurely, or ponds being filled in, or ponds having been dug out and fish introduced. There’s all these types of threats that can influence the breeding cycle of the salamanders.”

Even without human influence, the natural life cycle of a depression pond sees it fill up, said Lynn.

“You got sediment that fills in and you get leaf litter, and that leaf litter will eventually break down… just kind of create a muck in the bottom,” said Lynn. “These depressions in the landscape are becoming more and more rare. They just keep filling up and there’s not a lot more being created.”

Jefferson salamanders tend to return to breed in the same pool they were born in. That’s why rehabilitation and enhancement of existing vernal pools is what the Ontario Streams project will focus on.

Lynn said the purpose of habitat enhancement is to make all existing breeding ponds as productive as possible for breeding. There’s also the option to enhance other nearby ponds to entice salamanders to lay their eggs there.

One method of enhancement is the planting of specific types of trees and shrubs. The right plants will provide necessary twigs for egg-layers, shade ponds from the hot sun, clean water from pollutants, and prevent sediment from entering the pond.

The project has been in the works since December 2020, when the call came out for applications to Ontario’s Species at Risk Stewardship Fund.

“We were looking at the funding application and thought, ‘well, it’d be nice to do something for Jefferson salamanders for a change’,” said Heaton, explaining a lot of the work Ontario Streams has done in the past has been for fish.

In an Ontario Streams media release, Caledon Mayor Allan Thompson expressed support for the project that aims to help Jefferson salamanders.

“The Town of Caledon is pleased to be an active partner in this project and equally excited to help Jefferson salamanders by integrating a new eco-passage into our road rehabilitation projects this year,” said Thompson.

Lynn said development in Ontario has spread Jefferson salamander populations out.

“It may seem like a lot of money to install a culvert with fencing and this fancy eco-passage, but we need to save every single salamander that’s out there. There’s just so few of them left,” said Lynn.