Training
Ecology of the California Tiger Salamander for CDFW
This is basic training for CDFW staff to better understand the biology and conservation of California tiger salamanders.
COST: FREE
REGISTRATION FOR THIS PROGRAM IS CLOSED
Instructor Information
Dr. Chris Searcy
Associate Professor of Conservation Ecology
University of Miami
Dr. Peter Trenham
Independent Consultant
Contact
Grey Hayes
grey@elkhornslough.org
8312748700
Sponsors
Description
See also: California Tiger Salamander, Habitat Restoration
Workshop description
Pete Trenham, Ph.D. and Chris Searcy, PhD will present this workshop on the biology and conservation of the golden goose replique California tiger salamander (CTS). Dr. Trenham has published a variety of papers on the ecology and life history of the California tiger salamander and has taught this popular workshop on several occasions. Dr. Searcy has authored nine published papers on California tiger salamanders and recently began a new study on “Terrestrial habitat use by endangered Santa Barbara tiger salamanders” funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The classroom portion of this workshop includes digital presentations by both presenters on the identification, life history, movements, conservation, and management of the California tiger salamander. Presentations will be interspersed with discussion and small group exercises.
The field portion of the workshop will include hands-on training on habitat assessment and survey techniques as well as in situ discussion about habitat management. Although the class normally encounters CTS and participants are able to handle the species, we cannot guarantee handling or pond sampling experience due to the stochastic nature of planet Earth’s biota as well as potential for failure of human systems beyond our control. Participants will need their own field equipment including dip net and waders (preferably chest waders with no holes) to practice sampling methodology.
Workshop objectives
Increase participant understanding of:
- the biology of California tiger salamanders;
- habitat management for this species, and;
- how to apply information in large-scale and local conservation planning efforts.
Improve these participant skills:
- species identification;
- aquatic habitat sampling techniques, and;
- upland and aquatic site assessment.
Topics addressed
- Geographic distribution of California tiger salamanders and hybrid populations;
- aquatic habitats and their management;
- individual organism movement patterns; replica golden goose
- population and community ecology;
- survey methods, and;
- methods for assessing potential project impacts and approaches for avoidance and minimization.
Field training practicum
Participants will receive skills-based training in species identification, sampling techniques, and habitat requirements of the California tiger salamander. Pete and Chris will lead participants through a hands-on skill building exercises for conserving the species.
***Important information***
It is important to note that no component of this workshop should be construed to apply to attendees’ ability to obtain permits related to the CTS; if you are interested in how workshop activities might be used for permitting, you are encouraged to contact your agency permitting representative.
After you register, please email Grey Hayes (grey@elkhornslough.org) if you want to attend the field training practicum. Due to agency permitting issues, we must limit the student:teacher ratio during the field training session, and so we keep the number in the water at any one time to 12 participants; we can rotate through groups if necessary.
Registration details
We do not allow third party registration- register only yourself! Registration is email sensitive; registering others frequently results in cancellation, missed communication, and other issues.
Please let us know as soon as you know if you have registered and cannot attend as there is usually an extensive waiting list for our trainings and we use substantial funds to subsidize workshop expenses, helping to make them more affordable.
Elkhorn Slough is subsidizing the cost of this workshop to make the event free to Department employees only. If you sign up, please show up. Otherwise, you will be taking the space of another Department employee, wasting funding, materials, etc. Those who do not show up or notify us well in advance of their absence may not be offered priority enrollment at future such events.
Due to cost constraints, we will not be serving refreshments or lunch for this event: please bring your own lunch, coffee, water, etc.
Documents and Publications
Contact List
We encourage participants to download the contact list to assist with arranging a rideshare or to get in contact with someone you met at the
workshop. Those interested in sharing a ride to the event are marked on the contact list.
DOCUMENT | AUTHOR / SOURCE |
---|---|
WORKSHOP MATERIALS | |
Presentation: California tiger salamander workshop PDF, 18.2MB |
Chris Searcy and Pete Trenham Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program May 2023 |
Read Me: Important Preparation Guidelines for CTS Field Practica PDF, 39KB |
Dan Brumbaugh Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program 2019 |
Supplemental Materials, Including Bibliography: California Tiger Salamander Workshop PDF, 220KB |
Chris Searcy And Pete Trenham Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program May 2023 |
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS | |
A comparison of the food habits of Ambystoma macrodactylum sigillatum, Ambystoma macrodactylum croceum, and Ambystoma tigrinum californiense PDF, 388KB |
James D. Anderson Herpetologica 24(4):273-284 1968 |
Alternative forms for genomic clines PDF, 3.4MB |
Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick Ecology and Evolution 3(7):1951-1966 2013 |
Amphibian Upland Habitat Use & Its Consequences for Population Viability PDF, 197KB |
Peter C. Trenham & H. Bradley Shaffer Ecological Applications 15(4):1158-1168 2005 |
Assessing Suitability for Conservation Action: Prioritizing Interpond Linkages for the California Tiger Salamander PDF, 396KB |
Christopher R. Pyke Conservation Biology, 19(2):492-503 2005 |
Calculating Biologically Accurate Mitigation Credits: Insights from the California Tiger Salamander PDF, 415KB |
Christopher Searcy and Bradley Shaffer Conservation Biology 22(4):997-1005 2008 |
Can California Ranchers Save The Tiger Salamander? PDF, 134KB |
Erik Stokstad Science 305:1554 September 10, 2004 |
Cattle Grazing Mediates Climate Change Impacts in Ephemeral Wetlands PDF, 186KB |
Christopher Pyke and Jaymee Marty Conservation Biology, 19(5):1619-1625 2005 |
Data on the Life History of Ambystoma tigrinum californiense Gray PDF, 142KB |
Victor C. Twitty Copeia, No. 1:1-4 1941 |
Delayed life history effects, multilevel selection, and evolutionary trade-offs in the California tiger salamander PDF, 2.4MB |
Christopher A. Searcy, Levi N. Gray, Peter C. Trenham, and H. Bradley Shaffer Ecology, 95(1):68-77 2014 |
Demography and breeding phenology of the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) in an urban landscape PDF, 1.4MB |
David G. Cook, Peter C. Trenham, and Philip T. Northen Northwestern Naturalist 87:215-224 2006 |
Distribution of Migrating Adults Related to the Location of Remnant Grassland around an Urban California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) Breeding Pool PDF, 341KB |
Peter C. Trenham and David G. Cook Urban Herpetology, Herpetological Conservation, Mitchell, J.C., and R.E. Jung Brown (Eds.). Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. 2008 |
Ecosystem Services are Social–ecological Services in a Traditional Pastoral System: the Case of California’s Mediterranean Rangelands PDF, 1.4MB |
Lynn Huntsinger and Jose L. Oviedo Ecology and Society, 19 (1):8 2014 |
Effective population size is strongly correlated with breeding pond size in the endangered California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense PDF, 500KB |
Ian J. Wang, Jarrett R. Johnson, Benjamin B. Johnson, H. Bradley Shaffer Conserv Genet 12:911-920 2011 |
Effects of Cattle Grazing on Diversity in Ephemeral Wetlands PDF, 189KB |
Jaymee T. Marty Conservation Biology, 19(5):1626-1632 2005 |
Effects of tail-clipping on survivorship and growth of larval salamanders PDF, 414KB |
Rebecca L. Polich, Christopher A. Searcy, and H. Bradley Shaffer The Journal of Wildlife Management 77(7):1420-1425 2013 |
Environment-dependent admixture dynamics in a tiger salamander hybrid zone PDF, 2.7MB |
Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick and H. Bradley Shaffer Evolution, 58(6):1282-1293 2004 |
Exploring the Status of Population Genetics: The Role of Ecology PDF, 232KB |
Roberta L. Millstein Biol Theory 7:346-357 2013 |
Habitat Use and Migration Behavior of the California Tiger Salamander PDF, 134KB |
Ivette Loredo, Dirk Van Vuren, and Michael L. Morrison Journal of Herpetology, 30(2):282-285 1996 |
Hybrid vigor between native and introduced salamanders raises new challenges for conservation PDF, 370KB |
Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick and H. Bradley Shaffer Pnas, 104(40):15793-15797 2007 |
Hybridization Between a Rare, Native Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) and its Introduced Congener PDF, 310KB |
Seth P. D. Riley, H. Bradley Shaffer, S. Randal Voss, & Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick Ecological Applications 13(5):1263-1275 2003 |
Introduction history and habitat variation explain the landscape genetics of hybrid tiger salamanders PDF, 2.3MB |
Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick and H. Bradley Shaffer Ecological Applications, 17(2):598-608 2007 |
Invasive hybrid tiger salamander genotypes impact native amphibian PDF, 1MB |
Maureen E. Ryan, Jarrett R. Johnson, and Benjamin Fitzpatrick Pnas, 106(27):11166-11171 2009 |
Landscape genetics and least-cost path analysis reveal unexpected dispersal routes in the California tiger salamander (Ambystoma californiense) PDF, 3.4MB |
Ian J. Wang, Wesley K. Savage, and H. Bradley Shaffer Molecular Ecology 18:1365-1374 2009 |
Late summer movement and mass mortality in the California tiger salamander PDF, 561KB |
Dan C. Holland, Marc P. Hayes, and Eben McMillian The Southwestern Naturalist, 35(2):217-220 1990 |
Lethal Effects of Water Quality on Threatened California Salamanders but Not on Co-Occurring Hybrid Salamanders PDF, 575KB |
Maureen E. Ryan, Jarrett R. Johnson, Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick, Linda J. Lowenstine, Angela M. Picco, and H. Bradley Shaffer Conservation Biology, 27(1):95-102 2012 |
Life History and Demographic Variation in the California Tiger Salamander PDF, 101KB |
Peter C. Trenham, H. Bradley Shaffer, Walter D. Koenig, and Mark R. Stromberg Copeia 2:365-377 2000 |
Microhabitat use and migration distance of an endangered grassland amphibian PDF, 475KB |
Christopher A. Searcy, Emilio Gabbai-Saldate, and H. Bradley Shaffer Biological Conservation 158:80-87 2013 |
Movement Patterns and Migration Distances in an Upland Population of California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) PDF, 1.1MB |
Susan G. Orloff Herpetological Conservation and Biology 6(2):266-276 2011 |
Parallel tagged amplicon sequencing reveals major lineages and phylogenetic structure in the North American tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) species complex PDF, 2.8MB |
Eric M. O'Neill, Rachel Schwartz, C. Thomas Bullock, Joshua S. Williams, H. Bradley Shaffer, X. Aguilar-Miguel, Gabriela Parra-Olea, and David W. Weisrock Molecular Ecology, 22(1):111-129 2012 |
Rapid spread of invasive genes into a threatened native species PDF, 622KB |
Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick, Jarrett R. Johnson, D. Kevin Kump, Jeramiah J. Smith, S. Randal Voss, and H. Bradley Shaffer Pnas 107(8):3606-3610 2010 |
Reproductive Ecology of a Population of the California Tiger Salamander PDF, 238KB |
Ivette Loredo and Dirk Van Vuren Copeia, 4:895-901 1996 |
Retention of low-fitness genotypes over six decades of admixture between native and introduced tiger salamanders PDF, 397KB |
Jarrett R. Johnson, Benjamin M. Fitzpatrick, and H Bradley Shaffer BMC Evolutionary Biology 10:147 2010 |
Short pond hydroperiod decreases fitness of nonnative hybrid salamanders in California PDF, 619KB |
J. R. Johnson, M. E. Ryan, S. J. Micheletti, and H. B. Shaffer Animal Conservation 16:556-565 2013 |
Short- , medium- , and long-term repeatability of locomotor performance in the tiger salamander Ambystoma californiense PDF, 999KB |
C. C. Austin and H. B. Shaffer Functional Ecology 6:145-153 1992 |
Spatial Tests of the Pesticide Drift, Habitat Destruction, UV-B, and Climate-Change Hypotheses for California Amphibian Declines PDF, 3.8MB |
Carlos Davidson, H. Bradley Shaffer, and Mark R. Jennings Conservation Biology, 16(6):1588-1601 2002 |
Spatially Autocorrelated Demography and Interpond Dispersal In The Salamander Ambystoma californiense PDF, 339KB |
Peter C. Trenham, Walter D. Koenig and H. Bradley Shaffer Ecology, 82(12):3519-3530 2001 |
Susceptibility of the Endangered California Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma californiense, to Ranavirus Infection PDF, 167KB |
Angela M. Picco, Jesse L. Brunner, and James P. Collins Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(2):286-290 2007 |
Sympatry in California tiger salamander and California red-legged frog breeding habitat within their overlapping range PDF, 145KB |
Jeff A. Alvarez, Mary A. Shea, Jeffery T. Wilcox, Mark A. Allaback, Sarah M. Foster, Gretchen E. Padgett-Flohr, and Jennifer L. Haire California Fish and Game, 99(1):42-48 2013 |
Terrestrial distribution of pond-breeding salamanders around an isolated wetland PDF, 357KB |
David E. Scott, Mark J. Komoroski, Dean A. Croshaw, and Philip M. Dixon Ecology, 94(11):2537-2546 2013 |
Terrestrial habitat use by adult California tiger salamanders PDF, 666KB |
Peter C. Trenham Journal of Herpetology, 35(2):343-346 2001 |
The Decline of Amphibians in California's Great Central Valley PDF, 1.8MB |
Robert N. Fisher and H. Bradley Shaffer Conservation Biology 10(5):1387-1397 1996 |
The effectiveness of pond-breeding salamanders as agents of larval mosquito control PDF, 150KB |
Robert Brodman
Ryan Dorton Journal of Freshwater Ecology 21(3):467-474 2006 |
The Effects of Livestock on California Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus beecheyii) PDF, 209KB |
Jeffrey S. Fehmi, Sabrina E. Russo, James W. Bartolome Rangeland Ecology and Management 58:352-359 July 2005 |
The molecular phylogenetics of endangerment: cryptic variation and historical phylogeography of the California tiger salamander, Ambystoma californiense PDF, 317KB |
H. Bradley Shaffer, Gregory B. Pauly, Jeffrey C. Oliver, and Peter C. Trenham Molecular Ecology 13:3033-3049 2004 |
The origin of tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum) populations in California, Oregon, and Nevada: introductions or relicts? PDF, 544KB |
Jarrett R. Johnson, Robert C. Thomson, Steven J. Micheletti, and H. Bradley Shaffer Conserv Genet 12:355-370 2011 |
The polytypic species revisited: genetic differentiation and molecular phylogenetics of the tiger salamander Ambystoma tigrinum (Amphibia: Caudata) complex PDF, 2.8MB |
H. Bradley Shaffer; Mark L. McKnight Evolution, 50(1):417-433 Feb. 1996 |
The Status of the California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) at Lagunita:A 50-year Update PDF, 188KB |
Sean J. Barry and H. Bradley Shaffer Journal of Herpetology, 28(2):159-164 1994 |
OTHER INFORMATION | |
Ambystoma californiense Gray, 1853, California tiger salamander PDF, 32KB |
Shaffer, H. B., and P. C. Trenham M. Lannoo, editor. Amphibian Declines - The Conservation Status of United States Species. University of California Press, Berkeley 2005 |
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Endangered Status for the Sonoma County Distinct Population Segment of the California Tiger Salamander PDF, 251KB |
United States Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 53, 13498-13520 2003 |
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Determination of Threatened Status for the California Tiger Salamander; and Special Rule Exemption for Existing Routine Ranching Activities PDF, 323KB |
United States Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Register, Vol. 69, No. 149, 47212-47248 2004 |
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Emergency Rule To List the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population of the California Tiger Salamander as Endangered PDF, 299KB |
United States Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 12, 3096-3109 2000 |
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Final Rule To List the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population of the California Tiger Salamander as Endangered PDF, 338KB |
United States Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 184, 57242-57264 2000 |
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Listing the Sonoma County Distinct Population Segment of the California Tiger Salamander as Endangered PDF, 164KB |
United State Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Register, Vol. 67, No. 140, 47758-47760 2002 |
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Proposal To List the Santa Barbara County Distinct Population of the California Tiger Salamander as Endangered PDF, 244KB |
United States Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Register, Vol. 65, No. 12, 3110-3111 2000 |
Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Review of Species That Are Candidates or Proposed for Listing as Endangered or Threatened; Annual Notice of Findings on Recycled Petitions; Annual Description of Progress on Listing Actions PDF, 288KB |
United States Fish and Wildlife Service Federal Register, Vol. 67, No. 114, 40657-40679 2002 |
Great Valley Vernal Pool Distribution, Photorevised 1996 PDF, 34KB |
Robert F. Holland Pages 71-75 in: C.W. Witham, E.T. Bauder, D. Belk, W.R. Ferren Jr., and R. Ornduff (Editors). Ecology, Conservation, and Management of Vernal Pool Ecosystems – Proceedings from a 1996 Conference. California Native Plant Society, Sacramento, CA 1998 |
Report to the Fish and Game Commission: A Status Review of the California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense) PDF, 7.3MB |
California Department of Fish and Game California Department of Fish and Game January 2010 |
Links
California Herps
http://www.californiaherps.com/
Interim Guidance on Site Assessment and Field Surveys for Determining Presence or a Negative Finding of the California Tiger Salamander
http://www.fws.gov/Pacific/ecoservices/endangered/recovery/documents/CalTigerSalamander.2003.protocol.pdf
Shaffer lab publications, including on CTS
https://www.eeb.ucla.edu/Faculty/Shaffer/
Questions and Answers
Submit a question on this subject and we'll provide an answer. coastaltraining@elkhornslough.org