Can something smaller than 2.5 inches long affect almost 6000 acres of land?   In Central Texas it can and provokes 450 angry residents and 3 different school districts to cry foul.

The reason for such commotion is four candidate species of salamander; the Salado salamander in Bell County, the Jollyville Plateau salamander in Travis and Williamson Counties, the Austin Blind salamander in Travis County and the Georgetown salamander in Williamson County.  These four species are on the proposed endangered species list of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be determined on Aug. 22, 2013. The listing, if it is approved, could impose restrictions on development in these three counties perhaps reversing the steadily burgeoning neighborhoods these outlying counties have experienced recently. 

 More definitely, it should symbolize a win for conservation, which Austin hasn’t seen since the passage of the Save Our Springs Ordinance in 1992.  

Why do these salamanders require protection?  The data indicates that during changing environmental conditions the population of salamanders has declined, especially in the case of juveniles in either population counts as determined from mark and recapture studies or overall population declines.   The threats to salamander survival are due to both a decline in water quality and habitat destruction.  The proposed listing of endangered species for these four species of salamanders would protect their survival by protecting their critical habitat, which coincidentally is our critical habitat.   

I was fortunate enough to be invited along salamander spotting with two of the City of Austin scientists. In late August we visited Avery Ranch. Salamanders in central Texas are considered an indicator species for environmental quality, and for their importance in the food web.  We found several salamanders on this day, and no juveniles.  We sloshed around in the muck, picking up rocks and kicking up sediment to see if any salamanders were hiding in the leaf debris.  A loss or decline in salamander numbers could be an early warning sign of environmental degradation, but multiple other anthropogenic or human activities can cause habitat reductions also.   Forest thinning for fire control, wetland drainage, and the creation of dams are all listed as significant threats to salamanders, according to information obtained by the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences at Virginia Tech. 

 Nathan (Nate) Bendik, the lead scientist on this day’s field work has found salamanders interesting enough to have made their study his career..  He invented a stand for securing a camera in the creek bed bottom, and along with Blake Sissel and a few others, have looked for, captured, marked, taken measurements and inputted data on the Jollyville Plateau salamander since 1997.  At one point, the 3 of us were arms breadth apart, crawling along the rocky creek bed, gently massaging the surface of the water in the hopes of unearthing the elusive salamander.   Nate said some days in years past he’s found several dozen at one site.  As a scientist and conservationist, Nate believes his work adds ecological services and aesthetic value to our natural landscape.  His enthusiasm for the job was contagious.  Blake accidently let one of the slippery guys get away and for the next 15 minutes we helped scour the area until the salamander was found, marked (with a photograph) and let loose again.  Like two boys skipping school to play in a tucked away meandering creek, these scientists, unwilling to sacrifice or compromise necessary data, scuffled and surveyed until the salamander was recaptured. Data was recorded and we packed up equipment to return to the office.  The synchronic transition between natural beauty and solid science had been made, and I felt privileged on this day to be a witness.

There are many reasons to protect aquatic species.  If you know what a watershed is you also know that we all live on one unless we live in the middle of the ocean.  If the majority of our watershed is covered with concrete and rooftops or impervious cover, rainwater has very little space to recharge and filter down through the terrain and into the aquifer.  The more impervious cover you inflict on a watershed, the less likely you are able to maintain the quantity and quality of water flowing through your creeks.  The creek banks become eroded and then the riparian vegetation along the creek beds diminishes. This results in scarcer food supplies for macro-invertebrate populations residing in the creeks.  For the aquatic salamander, swimming among the underground karst limestone formations found uniquely in this region of central Texas, scarce food supplies pose a real threat.  A population decline has been noted in the case of juveniles as far back as a year ago.  

Some residents of Williamson County and US Rep John Carter are seeking to stop the proposed salamander listing because of fear that future development in the area will be adversely affected.  What is under question currently is 131 acres for the Georgetown salamander in Williamson County and 370 acres in Bell County.

“We don’t have all the sound science yet.” said Nancy McDonald of the Real Estate Council of Austin at a Hearing held in Travis County with the US Fish and Wildlife Service on Sept. 6th.

Bill Bunch, the Director of the Save Our Springs Alliance alternatively testified that the “science linking impervious cover is replete.  Deteriorated water quality is directly correlated to an increase in impervious cover levels.”

To further address if causation exists between impervious cover and water degradation, Bendik   completed an analysis of data collection for the Jollyville Plateau salamander from 1997-2009.  An average trend was calculated providing an estimate of the rate of change for all monitored populations at multiple sites.  Sites were categorized as either low impervious cover (rural) or high to very high (urban) impervious cover for the purposes of comparing estimates.

 Although previous studies have shown declining population trends associated with higher impervious cover sites, until Bendik’s study, no statistical correlation had been formerly tested between impervious cover and a decline in the Jollyville Plateau salamander populations.  Bendik was able to confirm this correlation with the results of statistical regression analysis providing even more data and affirming what science has already shown; that an increase in impervious cover causes degradation to natural habitats.

However, the question of why the salamander habitat is declining as a result of urbanization remains to be studied.  Figuring what parameters equal an acceptable balance between development and water quality may require an endangered species listing to determine, and more science. 

The US Fish and Wildlife Service welcomes your comments postmarked on or before Oct. 22, 2012.  Following the publication of an economic analysis of the proposed critical habitat, the Service will reopen the publication comment period for 45 days.  Comments may be made in one of two ways; either going electronically to http://www.regulations.gov or by Mail to Public Comments processing, Division of Policy and Directives Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Dr., MS 2042-PDM, Arlington, VA 22203