Summary
The California giant salamander (Dicamptodon ensatus) is found in Mt. Tam’s streams and forests. This charismatic species’ aquatic-terrestrial life cycle, low vagility, longevity, large body size, and varied diet make it an excellent indicator of the health of those particular ecosystems. The One Tam area of focus constitutes a large portion of the species’ suitable forested habitat in Marin County. It is listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN and as a Species of Special Concern by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, making it even more important to understand how they are faring. While metrics for this indicator need to be further developed, new technology (e.g., eDNA) and advances in crowdsourced data (e.g., iNaturalist) offer promising directions for the future to help address this information gap.
resources
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