Wildfire Impacts to Populations of a California Endemic Newt
This project aimed at understanding the physiological changes in California Newts
in response to stressful environmental conditions. The 2018 Woolsey Fire severely
disrupted stream ecosystems in the Santa Monica Mountains. This project aimed to understand
how the fire's impacts cascaded throughout the ecosystem and affected the California
Newt. With impacts on suitable habitat and food availability, Newt body condition
and egg masses laid over time were evaluated. Initial results showed how both before
and after the fire, Newt body condition was significantly lower in sites affected
by the fire, compared to unaffected sites. This gives rise to previous environmental
stressors such as drought, which have affected the Santa Monica Mountains for years.
Further research looked to understand egg-mass data to better understand how reproductive
ability has changed over time, as well as a more in-depth analysis into tagged Newts
who were caught and measured before and after the fire.
