Blue-spotted salamander (Ambystoma laterale).
Anyone can make a difference, as students in Michigan learned when they decided to do something about cars killing salamanders in migration season.
Cathy Free reports at the Washington Post, “Eli Bieri noticed something disturbing as he walked through Presque Isle Park in Marquette, Mich., a few years ago.
“Several dozen blue-spotted salamanders had been smashed by cars while they were crossing from the forest to the wetlands on the other side of the road during their annual migration to breed and lay eggs. …
“ ‘I’ve always loved salamanders, and it really made me sad,’ said Bieri, 23, then a freshman ecology student at Northern Michigan University in the Upper Peninsula, about the 4-inch, bug-eyed amphibians, a common species in east-central North America. …
“ ‘I saw them crossing the road en masse,’ said Bieri, adding that they go to their breeding ponds when the weather is just right — rainy and 30 to 40 degrees.
“The following year, Bieri said he knew he had to do something to help the blue-spotted salamanders that were being crushed by people who drove their cars into the park to stargaze, not knowing any better.
“ ‘I’ve been fascinated by swamps and ponds since I was a kid chasing frogs and turtles, so of course, I was out there,’ he said. … He started a university research project to figure out how many of the salamanders were being killed by tires in Presque Isle Park every year.
“ ‘It’s impossible for a driver to see them at night because they’re black and the asphalt is black,’ said Bieri, explaining that the long-tailed salamanders move slowly, increasing their chance of being squashed.
“Bieri checked the park road every day for several weeks. … He got other students to help with his research, and together they tagged salamanders to get a feel for their numbers, he said.
“They found about 400 dead salamanders on the road that spring, and learned that many of them were getting wiped out on the park’s main thoroughfare every year, Bieri said. He released his findings, and upon seeing them, Marquette decided in 2020 to block a quarter-mile section of the park’s main road during migration season, from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.
“That year, Bieri found only three salamanders flattened by car tires, a big victory.
“The road closure now happens every year, and other groups joined the city to help let the public know about the salamander’s plight, including the Superior Watershed Partnership and Northern Michigan University.
“Once residents found out about the salamanders, they flocked to the park to see them, leaving their cars in safely designated areas, and searching for the critters on foot, Bieri said. …
“Although blue-spotted salamanders are not endangered, they’re an indicator species that can alert humans to problems in the ecosystem, said Tyler Pendrod, a program manager at Superior Watershed Partnership, a lake protection group in Marquette.
“ ‘What’s really cool about Eli’s research is that a lot of educational programming has come out of it,’ he said. ‘Children are experiencing nature in a way they never did before.’ …
“Blue-spotted salamanders venture out only in full darkness and they’re best viewed with a flashlight on a rainy night, Bieri said. He said he is delighted to see families carefully walking along the roadside at night with flashlights, hoping to catch the beginning of the spring migration, when the salamanders come out in droves. “
More at the Post, here.
Photo: Chloe Aftel for the New York Times
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