Can US Protect The Salamander And Its Essential Role In The Food Chain?

"A dramatic decline in Europe's salamander population has motivated the US to halt the import and trade of hundreds of salamander species this year and study the health of amphibian communities around the country for signs of disease."

"United States Geological Survey biologists around the country are on the hunt for salamanders, looking to check up on thousands of the amphibians to determine if a fungus from abroad is impacting the creatures' domestic population.

Earlier this year, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) embargoed the importation and interstate transfer of 201 salamander species in an effort to halt the spread of the fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), which has proven lethal to amphibians around the globe. While no reports of Bsal have yet occurred in North America, its deadliness has officials on the defensive against what they fear could be the biggest fungal threat since the ongoing white-nose syndrome plight threatening US bats.

Salamanders may frequently go unnoticed in nature, but their ecological importance makes the push against Bsal a significant conservation work. Their place in the food chain allows for insect control as well as reliable nourishment for larger animals, and a decline in salamander abundance could even have major effects on soil quality and climate change. And as Europe has already found, the spread of Bsal can wipe out amphibian populations in a matter of years, making the national survey an urgent effort."

Ben Thompson reports for the Christian Science Monitor May 31, 2016.