Climate, Topography, and Hydropattern: An Interaction of Abiotic Factors Affecting Larval Abundance and Phenology of the California Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma californiense, in Sonoma County, CA

Persistence of the endangered Sonoma county population of the California tiger salamander (CTS) is dependent on constructive mitigation of lost vernal pool breeding habitat. Local climate, the hydrology, and the topography of natural and constructed vernal pools on the Santa Rosa Plain were examined to determine their interactive effect on CTS larval abundance and phenology. We found that inter- and intra-annual climate variation affects annual larval abundance across four isolated vernal pool preserves. Relative larval abundances, as well as the timing of initial egg deposition and metamorphosis were also affected by the distinct hydropatterns of individual vernal pools. Pool basin morphology was found to play a role in these effects, suggesting that future vernal pool construction designs can exploit the interaction of climate, topography, hydrology, and CTS phenology.