Reticulated Flatwoods Salamander
Encyclopedia
The Reticulated Flatwoods Salamander (Ambystoma bishopi) is a species of mole salamander that is native to a small portion of the southeastern coastal plain in the western panhandle of Florida and extreme southwestern Georgia. The species once occurred in portions of southern Alabama but is now considered extirpated there. Its ecology and life history are nearly identical to its sister species, the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander (A. cingulatum). It inhabits seasonally wet pine flatwoods
and pine savannas
west of the Apalachicola River
-Flint River system. The fire ecology of longleaf pine savannas is well-known, but there is less information on natural fire frequencies of wetland habitats in this region. Like the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander, this salamander breeds in ephemeral wetlands with extensive emergent vegetation, probably maintained by summer fires.Wetlands overgrown with woody shrubs are less likely to support breeding populations.
The species was described in 2007 and received endangered status
by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
in 2008.
Flatwoods
Flatwoods, Pineywoods, Longleaf Pine-Wiregrass Ecosystem refers to an ecological community in the Southeastern coastal plain of North America...
and pine savannas
Eastern savannas of the United States
The eastern savannas of the United States covered large portions of the east side of the continent until the early 20th century. These were in a fire ecology of open grassland and forests with low ground cover of herbs and grasses....
west of the Apalachicola River
Apalachicola River
The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 112 mi long in the State of Florida. This river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin for short, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its farthest headstream in northeast Georgia is approximately 500...
-Flint River system. The fire ecology of longleaf pine savannas is well-known, but there is less information on natural fire frequencies of wetland habitats in this region. Like the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander, this salamander breeds in ephemeral wetlands with extensive emergent vegetation, probably maintained by summer fires.Wetlands overgrown with woody shrubs are less likely to support breeding populations.
The species was described in 2007 and received endangered status
Endangered Species Act
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 is one of the dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s. Signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 28, 1973, it was designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of economic growth and...
by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
United States Fish and Wildlife Service
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is a federal government agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats...
in 2008.