PARENT SESSION
Poster Session 31: Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species
Thursday, August 11, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM, Exhibit Hall 220 A-E, Level 2, Palais des congrès de Montréal

Conservation ecology of the mountain dusky salamander in Canada.

Boutin, Anaïs^*,1, Lapointe, François-Joseph¹, ¹ Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada

ABSTRACT- The Mountain dusky salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus) and the Northern dusky salamander (Desmognathus fuscus) are commonly observed in the US, where they are known to hybridize. In Canada, both species have a limited distribution, and the Mountain dusky salamander is listed as threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) since 2001. A recovery plan is underway to protect the habitat of these species and maintain viable populations. This project has been undertaken to determine the environmental factors that limit the abundance of the two salamanders in Quebec in order to propose long-term conservation objectives. The habitat characterization was performed by a monthly survey of 63 sites from May to September 2004. In each case, salamanders were captured and identified, environmental and hydrological variables were measured and tissue samples were collected for genetic analysis. More precisely we were interested in validating the morphological identification with genetic tools, as well as determining the levels of interspecific hybridization among populations. Multivariate data analysis revealed a significant discrimination between the ecological niches of the Mountain dusky salamander and the Northern dusky salamander. Furthermore, many abiotic factors (e.g. organic matter, water flow) explain the abundances of the species observed.

Key words: Desmognathus, Salamanders, Habitat characterization, Genetic identification