Cfreptiles & Amphibians
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WWW.IRCF.ORG/REPTILESANDAMPHIBIANSJOURNALTABLE OF CONTENTS IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANSIRCF REPTILES • VOL15, &NO AMPHIBIANS 4 • DEC 2008 189 • 24(1):69–80 • APR 2017 IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS CONSERVATION AND NATURAL HISTORY TABLE OF CONTENTS CONSERVATION IN ACTION FEATURE ARTICLES . Chasing Bullsnakes (Pituophis catenifer sayi) in Wisconsin: On the Road to UnderstandingA the EcologyFragile and Conservation of the Balance Midwest’s Giant Serpent ...................... Joshua M. Kapfer 190 . The Shared History of Treeboas (Corallus grenadensis) and Humans on Grenada: A Hypothetical Excursion ............................................................................................................................Robert W. Henderson 198 An endangered Texas salamander hangs on thanks to a grab bag of protective laws. RESEARCH ARTICLES But will .rampantThe Texas Horned Lizarddevelopment in Central and Western Texasand ....................... a Trump Emily Henry, administration Jason Brewer, Krista Mougey, and Gad spell Perry 204 its doom? . The Knight Anole (Anolis equestris) in Florida .............................................Brian J. Camposano, KennethGeoffrey L. Krysko, Giller Kevin M. Enge, Ellen M. Donlan, and Michael Granatosky 212 CONSERVATION ALERT Photographs by the author except where noted. World’s Mammals in Crisis ............................................................................................................................................................. 220 . More Than Mammals ...................................................................................................................................................................... 223 t most public swimming. The “Dow Jones pools, Index” ofyou Biodiversity can ...............................................................................................................................be pretty sure The source of the water ............that fills 225 Barton Springs Pool Ayou won’t encounterHUSBANDRY an endangered species while tak- is an expansive underground aquifer. The pool’s bottom ing a dip. But not at. BartonCaptive Care Springs of the Central Pool Netted inDragon Austin, ....................................................................................................... Texas. is mostly stone, sand, and Shannon silt, Plummer and 226the aquifer’s clear, cool Here, if you walk alongPROFILE the concrete edge and down the ramp springwater jets in through cracks in the limestone. All of into the clear, unchlorinated,. Kraig Adler: Achilly Lifetime waters,Promoting Herpetologyand swim ................................................................................................ out to this sits in a park within Michael view L. Treglia of downtown234 Austin, in a the pool’s far side, you may come face-to-face with a small landscape now heavily modified by humans. What was once COMMENTARY salamander that was once called “one of the most endangered a relatively shallow spring-fed creek flowing toward down- . The Turtles Have Been Watching Me ........................................................................................................................ Eric Gangloff 238 vertebrate species in North America.” town is now a long, rectangular swimming pool, with a dam BOOK REVIEW . Threatened Amphibians of the World edited by S.N. Stuart, M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R. Berridge, P. Ramani, and B.E. Young .............................................................................................................. Robert Powell 243 CONSERVATION RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Conservation Research Reports ................................. 245 NATURAL HISTORY RESEARCH REPORTS: Summaries of Published Reports on Natural History ................................. 247 NEWBRIEFS ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 248 EDITORIAL INFORMATION ..................................................................................................................................................... 251 FOCUS ON CONSERVATION: A Project You Can Support ............................................................................................... 252 Front Cover. Shannon Plummer. Back Cover. Michael Kern Totat et velleseque audant mo Totat et velleseque audant mo estibus inveliquo velique rerchil estibus inveliquo velique rerchil erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus erspienimus, quos accullabo. Ilibus aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum aut dolor apicto invere pe dolum fugiatis maionsequat eumque fugiatis maionsequat eumque moditia erere nonsedis ma sectiatur moditia erere nonsedis ma sectia- ma derrovitae voluptam, as quos tur ma derrovitae voluptam, as accullabo. A Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum). Photograph © Danté Fenolio (anotheca.com). This article first appeared in bio- Geoffrey Giller is a freelance science writer and Graphic, an online magazine pow- photographer based in Ithaca, New York. He has ered by the California Academy of a Master’s degree in environmental science and a Sciences (http://www.biographic. special love for amphibians. His writing has also com/posts/sto/a-fragile-balance). appeared in Scientific American, Audubon, and A Fragile Balance (text and images) Hakai Magazine, among other outlets. You can fol- © 2017 Geoffrey Giller. low him on Twitter @GeoffreyGiller and see more of his photography and writing on his website. Copyright © 2017. Geoffrey Giller. All rights reserved. 69 GILLER IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 24(1):69–80 • APR 2017 LEFT: With the water level lowered, the natural limestone bottom of the pool is more obvious. To the right, volunteers scrub down the exposed stone, while across the pool, the salamander biologists continue checking for stranded salamanders. RIGHT: Devitt holds up a Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), another resident of Barton Springs Pool. The pool is home to numerous species of plants and animals, all forming a functioning ecosystem on which the salamanders depend to survive. at the deep end that raises the water to a depth of about Barton Springs Salamanders (Eurycea sosorum), which lived 18 feet. A concrete wall and walkway runs along the pool’s here for untold years before humans began messing with the entire north edge, and another wall at the shallow end diverts place, still call the springs home. Small, darting fish, bright Barton Creek into a tunnel. More than half a million visitors red crayfish, aquatic plants, and tiny crustaceans are also part come here every year to enjoy its consistent, 68- to 70-degree of this coopted ecosystem. Fahrenheit water. The balance at Barton Springs between an endangered Despite all the modifications and heavy recreational use, species’ habitat and a treasured public pool has not always the springs and the pool are still wildlife habitat. Endangered been easy. But the salamanders have persisted for two decades Devitt holds a Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea sosorum) caught at Sunken Garden. Although the animals have evolved to spend their entire lives under- water, they can survive out of the water for brief periods. 70 GILLER IRCF REPTILES & AMPHIBIANS • 24(1):69–80 • APR 2017 since they were declared endangered, even as the human pop- In recent years, scientists have found the salamanders at ulation around them has skyrocketed. These days, Austin’s a handful of other springs, all within the same section of the hard-won equilibrium seems once again at risk. Edwards Aquifer. This underground limestone labyrinth arcs As the growing regional population shifts westward to from Austin down past San Antonio and nearly to the state’s areas outside city limits, development is intensifying within southwestern border, and provides drinking water for about the section of the aquifer that feeds the springs—beyond the two million people in central Texas; this particular subsection protection of Austin’s ordinances. A major highway extension alone feeds the taps of about 60,000 people, in addition to the that has recently broken ground would run through approxi- springs. mately three miles of the Barton Springs recharge zone, land Texas residents, the swimmers at Barton Springs Pool, that catches and percolates rainwater down into the aquifer. and the salamanders all depend on clean water. Over the Many of those who fought for the salamander in the past past 25 years, individuals and environmental groups have are refocusing on these new battle fronts, using tools like the been fighting hard to protect the salamanders and the city’s Endangered Species Act — a major pillar of the salamander’s water. As populations have increased, nitrogen levels in the tenuous existence. aquifer have slowly risen, in turn reducing dissolved oxygen Yet even the salamander’s federal endangered status is — critical for salamanders and other aquatic life to survive. no guarantee of future protection. President Trump’s nomi- Sediment and silt, loosened by development, also fills in the nation for Interior Secretary, Montana congressman Ryan cracks and crevices where salamanders hide out. And the geol- Zinke, has opposed endangered species listings in the past. ogy isn’t much help: The Edwards is a karst aquifer, consist- “From his record, it’s hard to expect much good will come to ing of tortuous channels carved into the limestone that carry any of our wildlife, much less those species at risk of extinc-