Spring salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 2
Executive Summary
Spring Salamander
Gyrinophilus porphyriticus
Species Range
The spring salamander, Gyrinophilus porphyriticus(Caudata, Plethodontidae) reaches its northern limit of distribution in Canada. It is represented here by the subspecies called the northern spring salamander, G. p. porphyriticus, which is distinct from four other subspecies located in the Appalachian mountains of the United States.
Canadian Populations
There are two distinct populations inhabiting forested mountain streams in southern Quebec. One ranges over 200 km² in the foothills of the Adirondacks, Huntingdon county, while the other is discontinuously distributed over 30,000 km² of the Appalachian mountains and foothills from the US-Canada border north to Arthabaska county.
Population Size
The spring salamander is rare within its range and usually found in low abundance. Greatest densities are found in headwater streams lacking predatory fish.
Habitat Features
Key habitat features include permanent water flow, cool oxygenated water, an unfrozen winter refuge, and a rocky and gravely stream bed and bank to provide micro-habitat cover for adults and larvae.
Vulnerability
The late sexual maturity (up to 6 years old) and the special habitat requirements of the spring salamander make this species particularly vulnerable to environmental changes.
Limiting Factors
Limiting factors are related to habitat transformation due to agriculture, forest cutting, and the development of housing and intensive recreation in the mountains of southern Quebec.
Status Evaluation
Present protection is insufficient to counteract the impact of limiting factors. It is a priority to preserve headwater stream populations in both the Adirondack and Appalachian ranges in Canada. The species must be considered Special Concern until sufficient protection can be provided.
COSEWIC Mandate
The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) determines the national status of wild species, subspecies, varieties, and nationally significant populations that are considered to be at risk in Canada. Designations are made on all native species for the following taxonomic groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, lepidopterans, molluscs, vascular plants, lichens, and mosses.
COSEWIC Membership
COSEWIC comprises representatives from each provincial and territorial government wildlife agency, four federal agencies (Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Federal Biosystematic Partnership), three nonjurisdictional members and the co-chairs of the species specialist groups. The committee meets to consider status reports on candidate species.
Definitions
- Wildlife Species
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A species, subspecies, variety, or geographically or genetically distinct population of animal, plant or other organism, other than a bacterium or virus, that is wild by nature and is either native to Canada or has extended its range into Canada without human intervention and has been present in Canada for at least 50 years.
- Extinct (X)
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A wildlife species that no longer exists.
- Extirpated (XT)
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A wildlife species no longer existing in the wild in Canada, but occurring elsewhere.
- Endangered (E)
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A wildlife species facing imminent extirpation or extinction.
- Threatened (T)
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A wildlife species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.
- Special Concern (SC)*
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A wildlife species that may become a threatened or an endangered species because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats.
- Not at Risk (NAR)*
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A wildlife species that has been evaluated and found to be not at risk of extinction given the current circumstances.
- Data Deficient (DD)***
- A category that applies when the available information is insufficient (a) to resolve a species’ eligibility for assessment or (b) to permit an assessment of the species’ risk of extinction.
* Formerly described as “Vulnerable” from 1990 to 1999, or “Rare” prior to 1990.
** Formerly described as “Not In Any Category”, or “No Designation Required.”
*** Formerly described as “Indeterminate” from 1994 to 1999 or “ISIBD” (insufficient scientific information on which to base a designation) prior to 1994. Definition of the (DD) category revised in 2006.
The Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, provides full administrative and financial support to the COSEWIC Secretariat.