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Blue listed species found in Whistler

Biodiversity inventory uncovers red-legged frogs

By Andrew Mitchell

For the past two summers the Whistler Biodiversity Project has collected, counted and confirmed the existence of hundreds of native and non-native species of plants and animals in Whistler, both to make a comprehensive inventory of what’s here and to identify any rare or invasive species that may require special attention.

On Friday, June 22, project leader Bob Brett and herpetologist (amphibian expert) Elke Wind confirmed the presence of red-legged frog tadpoles on the southern edge of Whistler. The species are on the provincial Blue List as a vulnerable species, and protected by provisions of the B.C. Wildlife Act. Special care has been taken to relocate and protect species during the Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project, as the wetland dwellers have been discovered throughout Sea to Sky.

Brett said he always suspected that the frogs were present in Whistler, but it was a matter of looking in the right place.

“We did a lot of trapping in valley bottom ponds over the last few years and so far we hadn’t found them anywhere in Whistler,” said Brett. “We know they were being found in more and more places around the province and people look for them, and we knew they’re in the Pinecrest area because of the highway work. We just weren’t looking in the right places.”

Leslie Anthony, a local herpetologist and ski writer, made the first red-legged frog discoveries while hiking in the area last fall, but Brett needed to confirm the presence of tadpoles to confirm the year-round presence of the species. Confirming the first sighting was important, said Brett, to create a conservation strategy.

“When looking at amphibians, what you want to do is to protect every single wetland in an area they were found — you can’t monitor one area because the populations move between bodies of water. The density of ponds in this area is amazing, it’s a pine forest on broken basalt ground, and there are hundreds of little ponds that could be good habitat. The pond where we found the red-legged tadpoles was maybe 20 metres long and five metres wide.”

The red-legged frog reaches a maximum length of about seven centimetres, and is named after the red colouring on the underside of their hind legs. They prefer coastal forests, and breed in shallow ponds and slow-moving streams that are shaded, but they also spend a lot of time on land when the weather is damp.

In addition to confirming the presence of the red-legged frogs, Brett and Wind also conducted a survey of ponds on the Whistler Valley Golf Course and Nicklaus North Golf Club. Brett said that those wetlands are healthy habitat for all kinds of species, but no red-legged frogs were discovered.

More significantly, no bullfrogs were found by the survey, which is good news for Whistler. Bullfrogs are aggressive, ravenous, displace native species, and gradually alter their habitats. So far they have not been discovered in Whistler, but when they are, Brett says the community will need to take action to eliminate them.

The Community Foundation of Whistler recently approved $40,900 for the Whistler Biodiversity Project through the Association of Whistler Area Residents for the Environment, which will go towards research, hiring wildlife and plant experts to make surveys, and sponsoring Whistler’s first BioBlitz.

BioBlitz is a 24-hour competition among scientists to identify as many species of plants and animals as possible, which Brett hopes will turn up new discoveries while raising awareness of native species.

To date, Brett’s inventory of species has catalogued 902 native species and 76 non-native species, mostly backyard plants. When his species list is merged with other lists kept by groups like the Whistler Fisheries Stewardship Group, local birders, and the Whistler Naturalists, Whistler has 1,118 native species — including the red-legged frogs — and 89 non-native species.

So far the project has not turned up many species that are rare or have special status. In addition to the red-legged frogs, coastal tailed frogs were discovered in 2006, requiring some mitigation of the Olympic downhill course. Whistler also has two rare species of plants. However, the status of 28 other rare species still has to be clarified.

While searching for the red-legged frogs, Brett also made another important discovery that will require fast action — a Japanese Knotweet on the side of the highway. The knotweed is a growing problem throughout North America because of the way it displaces native species and spreads.

“There’s a giant individual plant almost directly across the highway from where I was studying the frogs, by the weather station at the four-ways,” said Brett. “It’s becoming a huge problem worldwide, and it’s already in Squamish. It’s an incredibly aggressive invader, and really hard to get rid of. Little bits of stem or its roots can sprout and start a new colony or infestation.

“It was discovered in the same areas where they are building the 2012 Olympic venues in London, and they’re spending about 70 million pounds to remove them. It’s basically treated like toxic waste, and the roots go down three metres so you have to dig pretty deep to make sure you get the whole plant.”

Brett said the Whistler knotweed will either have to be dug up and burned before it can go to flower, or injected with a lethal herbicide.

Brett says the discovery underlines the need to do some municipal planning on invasive species, such as removing species of plants like Scotch Broom from stratas where they were planted, and getting the public involved in their own backyards. They also need an action plan for when species like bullfrog or knotweed are discovered.

There will be several opportunities over the summer for the public to get involved with the Whistler Biodiversity Project, leading up to BioBlitz Aug. 11-12. Brett is hoping to have 15 to 20 scientists take part, possibly teaming up with members of the community.