Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot (Spea Intermontana) in British Columbia
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British Columbia Recovery Strategy Series Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot (Spea intermontana) in British Columbia Prepared by the British Columbia Southern Interior Reptile and Amphibian Recovery Team January 2008 DRAFT About the British Columbia Recovery Strategy Series This series presents the recovery strategies that are prepared as advice to the Province of British Columbia on the general strategic approach required to recover species at risk. The Province prepares recovery strategies to meet our commitments to recover species at risk under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada, and the Canada – British Columbia Agreement on Species at Risk. What is recovery? Species at risk recovery is the process by which the decline of an endangered, threatened, or extirpated species is arrested or reversed, and threats are removed or reduced to improve the lik elihood of a species’ persistence in the wild. What is a recovery strategy? A recovery strategy represents the best available scientific knowledge on what is required to achieve recovery of a species or ecosystem. A recovery strategy outlines what is and what is not known about a species or ecosystem; it also identifies threats to the species or ecosystem, and what should be done to mitigate those threats. Recovery strategies set recovery goals and objectives, and recommend approaches to recover the species or ecosystem. Recovery strategies are usually prepared by a recovery team with members from agencies responsible for the management of the species or ecosystem, experts from other agencies, universities, conservation groups, aboriginal groups, and stakeholder groups as appropriate. What’s next? In most cases, one or more action plan(s) will be developed to define and guide implementation of the recovery strategy. Action plans include more detailed information about what needs to be done to meet the objectives of the recovery strategy. However, the recovery strategy provides valuable information on threats to the species and their recovery needs that may be used by individuals, communities, land users, and conservationists interested in species at risk recovery. For more information To learn more about species at risk recovery in British Columbia, please visit the Ministry of Environment Recovery Planning webpage at: <http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/recoveryplans/rcvry1.htm> Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot January 2008 Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot (Spea intermontana) in British Columbia Prepared by the British Columbia Southern Interior Reptile and Amphibian Recovery Team January 2008 Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot January 2008 Recommended citation British Columbia Southern Interior Reptile and Amphibian Recovery Team. 2008. Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot (Spea intermontana) in British Columbia. Prepared for the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Victoria, BC. 20 pp. Cover illustration/photograph The cover photograph was provided by Steve Cannings. Additional copies Additional copies can be downloaded from the B.C. Ministry of Environment Recovery Planning webpage at: <http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/recoveryplans/rcvry1.htm> Publication information Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data Southern Interior Reptile and Amphibian Recovery Team. Recovery strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot (Spea intermontana) in British Columbia [electronic resource] (British Columbia recovery strategy series) Available on the Internet. “January 2008” Includes bibliographical references: p. ISBN 978-0-7726-5933-0 1. Great Basin spadefoot - British Columbia. 2. Rare amphibians – British Columbia. 3. Endangered species – British Columbia. 4. Wildlife recovery - British Columbia. I. British Columbia. Ministry of Environment. II. Title. QL668.E33B74 2008 333.95’86 C2008-960039-8 Content (excluding illustrations) may be used without permission, with appropriate credit to the source. i Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot January 2008 Disclaimer This recovery strategy has been prepared by the British Columbia Southern Interior Reptile and Amphibian Recovery Team, as advice to the responsible jurisdictions and organizations that may be involved in recovering the species. The British Columbia Ministry of Environment has received this advice as part of fulfilling its commitments under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada, and the Canada – British Columbia Agreement on Species at Risk. This document identifies the recovery strategies that are deemed necessary, based on the best available scientific and traditional information, to recover Great Basin Spadefoot populations in British Columbia. Recovery actions to achieve the goals and objectives identified herein are subject to the priorities and budgetary constraints of participatory agencies and organizations. These goals, objectives, and recovery approaches may be modified in the future to accommodate new objectives and findings. The responsible jurisdictions and all members of the recovery team have had an opportunity to review this document. However, this document does not necessarily represent the official positions of the agencies or the personal views of all individuals on the recovery team. Success in the recovery of this species depends on the commitment and cooperation of many different constituencies that may be involved in implementing the directions set out in this strategy. The Ministry of Environment encourages all British Columbians to participate in the recovery of the Great Basin Spadefoot. ii Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot January 2008 RECOVERY TEAM MEMBERS Co-Chairs: Christine Bishop, Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta, BC Orville Dyer, BC Ministry of Environment, Penticton, BC Recovery Team: David Cunnington, Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service, Delta, BC Laura Friis, BC Ministry of Environment, Victoria, BC Carl MacNaughton, The Nature Trust of BC, Oliver, BC Roger Packham, BC Ministry of Environment, Williams Lake, BC Julie Steciw, BC Ministry of Environment, Williams Lake, BC John Surgenor, BC Ministry of Environment, Kamloops, BC Bryn White, Okanagan College, Penticton, BC Technical Advisors: Sara Ashpole, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON Helen Davis, Artemis Consulting, Armstrong, BC Patrick Gregory, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC Ron Hall, Conservation Intern, Osoyoos Indian Band, Oliver, BC Karl Larsen, Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, BC Mike Sarell, Ophiuchus Consulting, Oliver, BC AUTHORS See Acknowledgements RESPONSIBLE JURISDICTIONS The British Columbia Ministry of Environment is responsible for producing a recovery strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot under the Accord for the Protection of Species at Risk in Canada. Environment Canada’s Canadian Wildlife Service participated in the preparation of this recovery strategy. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This recovery strategy was originally drafted by Dave Nield and was revised by Mike Sarell and Kelly Chapman of Ophiuchus Consulting in 2003. Kristiina Ovaska and Lennart Sopuck of Biolinx Environmental Research Ltd. further revised, updated, and reorganized the document in 2005. Allison Haney prepared the distribution maps. Members of the Recovery Team, the B.C. Ministry of Environment (Jeff Brown, Drew Carmichael, Steve Matthews) and Environment Canada (Lucy Reiss, Patricia Hayes, Caroline Seburn, Blair Hammond) provided comments that were incorporated into the strategy. The Recovery Team appreciates administrative and financial support from the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Environment Canada, Habitat Conservation Trust Fund, Okanagan College, and Science Horizons. iii Recovery Strategy for the Great Basin Spadefoot January 2008 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Great Basin Spadefoot (Spea intermontana) is small (4–6 cm), grey, brown, or greenish with dark spots (bumps), often with orange centres, a vertical pupil, and a sharp-edged dark ridge (“spade”) on the inner side of each hind foot, used for burrowing. The Great Basin Spadefoot lives in the Okanagan, Similkameen, Kettle-Granby, Fraser, Thompson and Nicola Valleys and the South Cariboo Region of British Columbia in low elevation shrub-steppe and open forest habitats. Spadefoots breed and lay eggs in wetlands during the spring. Tadpoles develop rapidly, metamorphose into juveniles, and migrate from the wetlands to nearby terrestrial habitats (within about 500 m of breeding sites). Juveniles and adults spend the remainder of the year on land, sometimes on the surface during rainy nights but generally buried underground in sandy or loamy soils, where they forage on invertebrates and estivate (become dormant) through the winter. In 2001, the Great Basin Spadefoot was designated by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) as Threatened. The major threats to the species are habitat loss and degradation due to housing development, crop production, and related activities including road building. Direct mortality from exotic species, such as non-native fish and bullfrogs, and reduced reproductive success due to pollution from pesticides are also serious and widespread threats. Road mortality and intensive livestock trampling in wetlands cause local impacts. Disease and climate change are emerging issues that require more research. The recovery goal is to ensure that there is sufficient, secure1 habitat distributed throughout the historic range to maintain a self-sustaining population, or populations, in