California’s amphibians and reptiles are unique in the United States for the tremendous amount of evolutionary and ecological diversity that they represent. California is second only to Texas in terms of the number of native amphibians and reptiles found within a state and contains endemic species of all major groups except turtles and tortoises. The state is home to what might be the best-known example of ring speciation (in Ensatina salamanders), which provides a unique view into the process of species diversification. California is home to the tailed frog (Ascaphus truei), a species that is among the last surviving members of an ancient lineage that is the sister group to all other frogs on earth. It houses reptile and amphibian species with genetic- and temperature-dependent sex determination; species that lay eggs in the water, on land, or that are live-bearing; and species with a two-staged life cycle that undergo a profound metamorphosis, switching between distinctly different habitats in the process.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (formerly, California Department of Fish and Game) is the trustee agency for California’s fish and wildlife resources. The challenges associated with effective management and conservation of these resources are formidable in California, where a large human population, diverse stakeholder interests, and extremely high biotic diversity must be jointly managed. Despite the challenge of implementing effective conservation in the state, doing so is an important and worthy goal given the vast diversity that the state supports. We have attempted to evaluate conservation status for the state’s amphibians and reptiles openly and transparently, relying on both the best available science and the breadth of expert opinions relating to amphibian and reptile conservation in California. We have sought (and received) broad feedback from a wide range of interested parties including agency representatives, academic scientists, and avocational herpetologists and used this combined input to make informed recommendations about conservation risk and management needs for California’s amphibians and reptiles. We have also highlighted where data are lacking and discussed how the community might fill these gaps in our knowledge. Our goal is for this volume to serve as both a summary of where we stand and a launching point for what we can achieve in the management and restoration of healthy amphibian and reptile populations in California.
ROBERT C. THOMSON
Honolulu, Hawaii
AMBER N. WRIGHT
Honolulu, Hawaii
H. BRADLEY SHAFFER
Los Angeles, California
May 2015