Endangered Amphibians

Endangered amphibians in the Alameda Creek watershed

California Red-Legged Frog (Rana aurora draytonii)

Status: Federally threatened
Habitats: Breeds in freshwater ponds and slow reaches of streams. Needs emergent vegetation for egg attachment, riparian and upland areas with dense vegetation and open areas for cover, aestivation (summertime hibernation), food and basking. May hibernate in abandoned rodent burrows for the winter.
Threats: Habitat loss to urban development, agriculture, logging and wetland draining, impacts of dams and water diversions, competition and predation by introduced species, pesticides, cattle grazing, and global warming
Locations in Alameda Creek watershed: Along mainstem Alameda Creek from lower Sunol Valley to headwaters; in Arroyos of Pleasanton and Livermore; and in stock ponds throughout the upper watershed

Center for Biological Diversity information page on California Red-Legged Frog

Information from CaliforniaHerps.com about California Red-legged Frog

California Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma californiense)

Status: Federally threatened, state threatened
Habitats: Annual grasslands and oak woodlands. Require seasonal freshwater ponds with little or no emergent vegetation and ephemeral “vernal” pools for breeding. Most of the year they reside in abandoned underground rodent burrows.
Threats: Habitat destruction by urban and agricultural development, habitat fragmentation, pesticides, hybridization with nonnative tiger salamanders, introduced diseases and predation by nonnative species
Locations in Alameda Creek watershed: On Bay plain in Newark, Sunol Valley, Livermore-Amador Valley, Altamont Pass, and in stock ponds throughout the upper watershed

Center for Biological Diversity information page on California Tiger Salamander

Information from CaliforniaHerps.com about California Tiger Salamander

Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog (Rana boylii)

Status: State species of special concern
Habitats: Partially shaded, rocky perennial streams in areas of chaparral, open woodland, and forest
Threats: Habitat destruction and alteration, hydrologic influence of upstream dams, sedimentation of breeding habitats, pesticides, livestock grazing, recreation, introduced predators and climate change
Locations in Alameda Creek watershed: Little Yosemite, Upper Alameda Creek, Arroyo Mocho along Mines Road, Arroyo Hondo above Calaveras Reservoir

AmphibiaWeb information page on Foothill Yellow-Legged Frog

Information from CaliforniaHerps.com about Foothill Yellow-legged Frog