US Fish And Wildlife Includes The California Amphibian In The Endangered Species Act Protection Proposal
CENTRAL COAST, Calif. – Earlier this month, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the western spadefoot as a threatened species under the The US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed listing the western spadefoot as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The amphibian, which spends most of its life underground and only comes up to breed during the rainy season and spring, was historically included in both northern and southern populations. The Center for Biological Diversity's proposal to protect 53 amphibians and reptiles is based on their 2012 proposal to use the End Species Act of 1973. The western spadedfoot lives in holes in grass and shrubs and relies on seasonal water sources for its breeding. Other challenges facing the amphibian include habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, drought, chemical contaminations, noise pollution, non-native predation, and wildfires.
Published : 6 months ago by Nation World News Desk in Science
CENTRAL COAST, Calif. – Earlier this month, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the western spadefoot as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
The western spadefoot (Hope of the world) is a small, mysterious amphibian that spends most of its life underground and only comes up to breed during the rainy season and spring details of the Center for Biological Diversity.
Historically, the western spadefoot spanned most of California and northwestern Baja California and the proposal from the federal agency includes the northern and southern populations explains the Center for Biological Diversity.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, this inclusion of the western spadefoot is now based on the environmental organization’s 2012 proposal to protect 53 amphibians and reptiles using the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
“I’m glad the Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes the challenges facing western spadefoots, but it shouldn’t have taken 11 years to protect such clearly endangered creatures,” said Sofia Prado- Irwin, Ph.D., is a scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These fascinating amphibians have been pushed to the brink by ill-planned agricultural expansion and development, and climate change is exacerbating their risk of extinction. With the protections of the Endangered Species Act, this little frog has a chance to survive and recover.”
While the western spadefoot spends most of its life living in holes in grass and shrubs, they rely on nearby, small seasonal water sources to breed explains the Center for Biological Diversity.
Below is an example of the seasonal, or vernal, pools needed by the western spadefoot to breed and grow in Carrizo Plain National Monument.
The Center for Biological Diversity details that 75% of these seasonal water sources in California’s Central Valley have been taken and that more than 80% of western spadefoot habitat has been lost in Southern California.
The western spadefoot faces challenges due to other factors beyond habitat loss and/or fragmentation including drought due to climate change, chemical contaminations, noise pollution, non-native predation, and wildfires that relay the Center for Biological Diversity.
The average life span of the western spadefoot is 12 years and tadpoles usually take about eight weeks to undergo metamorphosis into young toads, the fastest for any known frog or species. toad details at Los Padres ForestWatch.
Despite the quick metamorphosis, Los Padres ForestWatch explains that there is a very high death rate for the changing tadpoles due to the drying of the water pools that usually only last an average of three to four weeks.
Topics: Wildlife, California