Plethodon vehiculum

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AMPHIBIA	CAUDATA	PLETHODONTIDAE

Scientific Name:

Plethodon vehiculum

Species Authority:

(Cooper, 1860)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Western Redback Salamander

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2004
Assessor/s:	Geoffrey Hammerson
Reviewer/s:	Global Amphibian Assessment Coordinating Team (Simon Stuart, Janice Chanson, Neil Cox and Bruce Young)
Contributor/s:
Justification: Listed as Least Concern in view of its wide distribution, tolerance of a degree of habitat modification, presumed large population, and because it is unlikely to be declining fast enough to qualify for listing in a more threatened category.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species can be found in Western North America from southwestern British Columbia, including Vancouver Island, south through western Washington to southwestern Oregon (Petranka 1998). It occurs from sea level to about 1,250m asl (Stebbins 1985).
Countries:	Native: Canada; United States
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	It is one of the most commonly encountered terrestrial salamanders throughout its range (Nussbaum et al. 1983).
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	It can be found in humid coniferous forests; damp talus slopes and shaded ravines. Found under rocks, logs, leaf-litter, and other forest debris. On Vancouver Island, small individuals were found under small rocks and away from discrete cover objects in leaf-litter and under moss more frequently than were larger individuals (Ovaska and Gregory 1989). Lays eggs on land in moist retreats, where they develop directly without a larval stage.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

It can be found in humid coniferous forests; damp talus slopes and shaded ravines. Found under rocks, logs, leaf-litter, and other forest debris. On Vancouver Island, small individuals were found under small rocks and away from discrete cover objects in leaf-litter and under moss more frequently than were larger individuals (Ovaska and Gregory 1989). Lays eggs on land in moist retreats, where they develop directly without a larval stage.

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	There are no major threats to this species. Logging is not a major threat because this species maintains thriving populations in young forests.

Major Threat(s):

There are no major threats to this species. Logging is not a major threat because this species maintains thriving populations in young forests.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	No conservation measures are needed for this species. It occurs in many protected areas.

Conservation Actions:

No conservation measures are needed for this species. It occurs in many protected areas.

Citation:	Geoffrey Hammerson 2004. Plethodon vehiculum. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 19 June 2013.
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