Banff National Park of Canada
Natural Wonders & Cultural Treasures
Why survey Herptiles?
Colourful, secretive, shape shifting creatures, both aquatic and terrestrial - who isn’t fascinated by these first vertebrates to come ashore well before the age of dinosaurs!
Amphibians and reptiles have survived on the planet for some 350 million years, but world-wide populations have declined just in the last two decades. Even in Alberta, previously abundant species like the leopard frog have rapidly vanished. In many locations, scientists lack the information needed to identify and understand the causes and implications of these declines. Parks Canada is responsible for maintaining a healthy environment in our national parks, which includes all the living things like plants and animals, and continuing natural processes like fire and flood. People who visit and use the mountain national parks play an essential role in taking care of this environment and ensuring its health.
More on Herptiles
Why survey them?
Why are they important?
Why have they vanished?
What has been done?
More on Herptiles
Amphibians and reptiles have survived on the planet for some 350 million years, but world-wide populations have declined just in the last two decades. Even in Alberta, previously abundant species like the leopard frog have rapidly vanished. In many locations, scientists lack the information needed to identify and understand the causes and implications of these declines. Parks Canada is responsible for maintaining a healthy environment in our national parks, which includes all the living things like plants and animals, and continuing natural processes like fire and flood. People who visit and use the mountain national parks play an essential role in taking care of this environment and ensuring its health.
Why Survey them?
Parks Canada needs more information about the health of the amphibians and reptiles found in Banff, Yoho, and Kootenay National Parks, and Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site. This survey will provide important information on the distribution of resident amphibians and reptiles in the mountains, and will become part of the global database, the first step in focussing efforts on amphibian and reptile conservation. Amphibian and reptile populations may fluctuate naturally. Long term monitoring will help distinguish short-term or local population fluctuations from a catastrophic event.
Long term monitoring, the next step beyond this survey, would help distinguish short-term or local population fluctuations from a catastrophic event. Herpwatch is also linked to provincial and national programs. Learn more.
Why are they important?
Amphibians and reptiles can tell us a lot about the health of the environments they live in, because of their life history and biology. Frogs, toads, and salamanders have no protective covering on their skin like fur, feathers, or scales. Their permeable skins are sensitive to water quality, and to environmental conditions on land. Reptiles survive in the mountains only where the climate and denning conditions meet their needs.
Amphibians and reptiles are ectothermic or cold-blooded, meaning their body temperature varies with the environment’s temperature.
Amphibians and reptiles are important parts of the food webs of many natural communities, and therefore are necessary for ecosystem balance. They are prey for, and predators of, many other species. Eggs and larvae of amphibians are a rich food source for birds and fish. In turn, frogs and toads eat countless insects. Reptiles are also a food source for birds and mammals, and will feed on rodents, fish and insects. Amphibians may make up a large portion of the weight (biomass) of vertebrates where they are found in Alberta, outweighing the combined biomass of birds and mammals. Although they may be small, they are of great significance to the ecosystem.
Why have they vanished?
Amphibian and reptile declines may indicate both local and global environmental change. Although population declines have been documented in areas close to human activities, even more alarming is that populations have also disappeared from pristine wilderness areas.
National parks protect the natural environment and encompass undeveloped wilderness areas, but amphibians and reptiles living within the national parks are not free from harm. Many factors can affect these sensitive animals, such as chemical contamination from across the world has been found in park glaciers and lakes. As these factors are identified, and as we learn the distribution, abundance, and critical habitats of park amphibians and reptiles, then we can move to modify these factors and decrease their negative effects.
What is known to cause amphibian and reptile declines around the world?
Those factors identified so far are:
Human Use:
Humans collect amphibians and reptiles for food, for use in biological laboratories, for their skins, and for the pet trade. Amphibians and reptiles are collected on a large scale in many parts of the world to fuel these industries. It is illegal for anyone to handle or collect amphibians or reptiles in Canadian national parks.
Persecution:
Many people dislike reptiles. All over the world, people fear snakes and kill them on sight. Species of snakes have been eliminated by deliberate persecution. The reptiles living in the mountain national parks are harmless to humans. It is illegal in the national parks to harass or harm any wildlife, including reptiles.
Habitat loss:
Expanding human population and resulting urban sprawl, tourism facilities, agricultural and hydro development, and logging, may alter or destroy wetlands and other habitats needed by amphibians and reptiles. Populations decline as remaining habitat becomes fragmented and unable to support displaced individuals.
Habitat fragmentation:
Fragmentation of habitat either makes that habitat unavailable to reptiles and amphibians, or reduces the quality of the habitat for the animals. Structures like highways and golf courses can divide important areas for amphibians and reptiles, and are formidable obstacles during their migration. Automobiles can kill large numbers of migrating amphibians in a very short time. Individuals may be prevented from repopulating an area from a source population because of habitat fragmentation. The species’ range is reduced as well as the number of populations in an area. Safe movement corridors between habitats are critical.
Introduced Species:
Humans have introduced animals and plants not native to an area for many reasons, including for food and sport, and the release of unwanted pets. Non-native species often take advantage of a new environment, compete with native species for food and living space, and win. Introduced species may prey on the native species. In the mountain national parks, the introduction of fish to previously fish-free ponds and wetlands for sport fishing resulted in the local extinction of longtoed salamanders. Fish will eat amphibian eggs, larvae, and adults. Unintentional introductions of foreign micro-organisms and parasites may also cause massive die-offs. The release of pets, although illegal, has occurred in the national parks. It is difficult, if not impossible, to undo the damage that results from introductions of novel species.
Disease:
Disease organisms such as viruses, fungi, and bacteria have been implicated in amphibian dieoffs around the globe. Is this just a recent occurrence? Are they native or introduced pathogens? We need more information. Scientists think that amphibians and reptiles already under some stress may be more susceptible to disease than unstressed animals.
Chemical and Thermal Contamination:
Airborne and waterborne pollutants such as pesticides, road salt, and acid precipitation arrive in wetlands from both local and distant sources. These alter the quality of the water and soil in which amphibians and reptiles live and feed. Chemicals may affect animal health directly by poisoning, or they may act indirectly by altering hormones, affecting breeding success, and causing body deformations. Siltation of wetlands can affect the survival of amphibian eggs and larvae.
Thermal contamination occurs when the temperature of a water body changes. Logging near ponds and wetlands that increases sunlight exposure in turn increases water temperature, and ultraviolet radiation, beyond the range tolerated by amphibians requiring cool, clean water for breeding.
Ultraviolet Radiation:
Depletion of the earth’s protective ozone layer has allowed more ionizing radiation (UV-B) to reach the surface of the earth. This ultraviolet radiation causes skin cancer in humans and is known to kill amphibian eggs.
Global Climate Change:
Many amphibians rely on temporary vernal ponds and wetlands for breeding. Eggs and larvae must develop before the water body dries up, and adults prefer shady and moist environments. Amphibians usually survive occasional dry spells, but several years of drought may result in reproductive failure. Populations could vanish if the climate warms even by a few degrees and droughts become frequent.
Any one of these factors may cause local extinction of an amphibian or reptile population. More likely, though, more than one factor affects a population at once, and the factors may interact and compound their effects. When one population disappears, the distance between remaining populations may increase so much that migration ceases. Inbreeding reduces the genetic variability needed to deal with environmental changes, which then increases the chance of the isolated populations dying out.
What has been done?
In 1991 in response to global concern for amphibians, the International Union for Conservation of Nature established the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force. This is a network of over 3000 scientists and conservationists from more than 90 countries around the world. They oversee research, and exchange information about the extent and causes of declines of amphibians around the world. The group also promotes work towards stopping and reversing amphibian population declines.
Canada established the Task Force on Declining Amphibian Populations in Canada (DAPCAN) in 1991. Out of this grew the Canadian Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Network. This group of scientists works towards the conservation of amphibians and reptiles in Canada. Alberta has a volunteer amphibian monitoring project, established in 1992 and run by the Alberta Fish and Wildlife Division of Alberta Environment. British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment, Lands, and Parks also has a volunteer amphibian survey program.
The Bow Valley Naturalists, a local conservation group, have been surveying the lower Bow Valley in Banff National Park since 1992. Sightings have also been reported from some parts of Kootenay and Yoho National Parks in past years. The distribution and abundance of amphibians and reptiles for much of the mountain parks is unknown.
Visitors and residents alike can take an active role in amphibian and reptile research by getting involved in surveys like this one. Not only will survey participants benefit from a closer connection to the natural environment, but the information will become part of the valuable provincial and national database.