Blue-Spotted Salamanders

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Deaths of the Great Migration: Roadways Obstructing blue-spotted salamander’s (Ambystoma laterale) Migration at Presque Isle Park in Marquette, MI

Presque Isle Salamanders

In 2019, 400 blue-spotted salamanders (Ambystoma laterale) were killed at Presque Isle Park in Marquette, MI because their migratory path is obstructed by a heavily trafficked roadway. To combat this issue, there are plans to close the road for the migratory season, which would negatively affect recreational activities in the park. However, biologists and conservationists have developed a number of solutions that allow amphibians to safely cross under roads so that amphibians, as well as humans, can utilize the same paths. The goal of this project is to gauge whether these concepts can be applied to Presque Isle Park so humans can continue using the road without harming blue-spotted salamanders during their migration. To accomplish this goal, we assessed a variety of peer-reviewed literature to find the exact specifications for tunnel systems which would create a safe migration path without closing the roadway and ensure the tunnels are actually used. With the efforts of implementing underground tunnels that allow blue-spotted salamanders to safely cross the roads, we will see an increase in their populations as road mortalities decrease. Following the implementation of the underground tunnel systems, different methods of tracking the migration can be used to record what impacts the tunnels have on the population of blue-spotted salamanders and this technique can be applied to help amphibian populations globally.

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