SNAPS in 2024

Salamanders aren’t just adorable, they also make a major contribution to ecosystem health and integrity. Sadly, many of our Salamanders in Canada are in trouble. Salamander species at risk in Canada include the Small-mouthed Salamander, Jefferson Salamander, Northern and Allegheny Mountain Dusky Salamanders, Eastern and Western Tiger Salamanders, Coastal Giant Salamander, Spring Salamander, Coeur d’Alene Salamander, and the Wandering Salamander.

With so many salamander species already at risk, the last thing we need is another dangerous disease that targets salamanders, like Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal).

Bsal is closely related to the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (often shortened to ‘chytrid’, or Bd) which is known to affect more than 200 amphibian species, is linked to spread through the global pet trade, has caused extinctions, and continues to be a leading cause of amphibian mortality events worldwide.  First detected in 2013, Bsal has caused significant declines of salamander populations in Belgium and the Netherlands. It does not occur in North America yet, and we are determined to keep it out if we can, and to detect it quickly enough to put up a fight if we fail to keep it out.

The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans are a very effective barrier to amphibian movements, so the most likely scenario for an invasion of Bsal into North America is an accidental introduction through the escape or intentional release of an infected pet amphibian. Because of this, Canada’s first line of defense against Bsal is regulatory and takes the form of import restrictions/permitting requirements.  Canada prohibits the import of all species of the order Caudata (such as salamanders, newts and mudpuppies) unless accompanied by a permit, and these restrictions also apply to eggs, sperm, tissue culture, embryos and other parts or derivatives. These restrictions were implemented under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA) and Wild Animal and Plant Trade Regulations (WAPTR) in 2018 and are intended to identify and protect wild Canadian salamander species from Bsal.

But what happens if Bsal gets through that first line of defence?  Early detection of Bsal is essential for minimizing its negative impact. Unfortunately, early detection is inherently challenging, because it requires broad and long-term surveillance that can be expensive, time-consuming and logistically challenging. This is why the the Student Network for Amphibian Pathogen Surveillance (SNAPS) program is so important. The approach embraced by the SNAPS program is to build an integrated network of partners in surveillance coordinating and encouraging sampling for Bsal by diverse partners to achieve a reasonable level of surveillance. Much of the labour is an in-kind contribution by students and faculty at post-secondary educational institutions, and logistics costs are minimized by having the students sample locally. The objectives of this approach are to increase Bsal awareness, engage volunteer personnel and citizen scientists, and to utilize dispersed in-kind resources to increase the amount of Bsal sampling we can accomplish with the resources available.

First implemented in the US in 2020, SNAPS has now expanded to Mexico and Canada, providing surveillance across the continent. It works differently in different countries. In Canada, SNAPS is coordinated by the CWHC with support from Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC). First implemented in Canada 2022, SNAPS has recently completed its third surveillance season. We have monitored sites in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. We are happy to report that there have been no Bsal detections so far.

SNAPS was developed specifically for Bsal surveillance, but we have also been using it for Bd surveillance across the continent, and in 2024, ECCC added ranavirus testing to the Canadian program as well, and both of these important pathogens have been detected in Canada. There have been detections of Bd in British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador. We believe the Bd detection in Newfoundland was the first detection of this pathogen in that province. So far we have not detected Bd in Alberta or Nova Scotia. Our expanded surveillance in 2024 detected ranavirus in Quebec and New Brunswick. So far we have seen no mortality associated with any of Bd or ranavirus detections in the Canadian SNAPS program.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked so hard to make SNAPS happen in Canada this year. We thank Environment and Climate Change Canada for funding in support of the program, and the faculty and students of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Mount Allison University in New Brunswick, Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec, University of Ottawa in Ontario, and the University of Lethbridge in Alberta for their hard work, and a special thanks to Krysia Tuttle and to Rebecca Golat who worked with members of the Special Bird Service to monitor several sites in British Columbia this year. The Special Bird Service Society aims to make nature more accessible, remove barriers, and challenge stereotypes present in the outdoors through birding, elevating people of colour and the 2SLGBTQ+ communities’ voices, history, and values in nature. Thank you Special Bird Service!

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