Reptiles and Amphibians of California's Journal

Journal archives for December 2018

December 6, 2018

Tiny salamanders could stand in the way of massive dam raising project.

If the agency determines the three closely related amphibians, the Shasta salamander, Samwel Shasta salamander and Wintu Shasta salamander are threatened with extinction the bureau would have to find a way to raise the dam without harming the 4-inch amphibians.

https://www.redding.com/story/news/2018/12/05/tiny-salamanders-may-stand-way-massive-shasta-dam-raising-project/2210322002/

Posted on December 6, 2018 12:59 PM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 18, 2018

Futurity: Research News. Recovering frogs plop from backpacks into new places.

The frogs travel in a box, within a canister, surrounded by snow, tucked tightly into a backpack strapped to a determined ecologist. Twenty at a time they depart places where they’re thriving for sites from which their species has vanished. Their mission: population recovery.

Ecologist Roland Knapp of the University of California, Santa Barbara has been leading a team of field crews—in collaboration with the National Park Service, US Geological Survey, and US Fish & Wildlife Service—to save these frogs by reintroducing them to lakes from which they have disappeared due to the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd).

https://www.futurity.org/sierra-nevada-yellow-legged-frog-1927952-2/

Posted on December 18, 2018 09:30 AM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment

December 21, 2018

Book Review: Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer.

Cats have been introduced to an estimated 10,000 (5 percent) of Earth’s islands. Felix Medina’s meta-analysis of the feline impact on island biodiversity concluded cats have caused a population decline, reduction in geographic distribution, or extinctions of 175 species of reptiles, birds, and mammals.

https://www.islandconservation.org/cat-wars-devastating-consequences-cuddly-killer/

Posted on December 21, 2018 02:09 AM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 2 comments | Leave a comment

December 26, 2018

Tiny salamander in Northern California could spell big problem for plans to heighten the Shasta Dam.

A trio of tiny salamander species could mean big trouble for federal officials spearheading a controversial $1.4-billion public works project to heighten the Shasta Dam in Northern California.

https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-shasta-dam-lawsuit-20181207-story.html

Posted on December 26, 2018 01:35 PM by biohexx1 biohexx1 | 0 comments | Leave a comment