One can picture ecosystems, and every system on earth as interconnected. Each one of these systems are reliant on one another, like a house of cards. If one of these cards is pulled from underneath, the entire system will collapse. It is for this reason that the California Tiger Salamander is imperative to preserve. Without this salamander, many different systems, both environmental and economic, will be put at risk. By removing the salamander from their habitat, this directly harms many other species, including all the animals that feed on the salamanders and the animals who benefit from the services this species provides. Economically speaking, we in California are dependent on the natural services California Tiger Salamanders provide to the environment as well as the services which the species they sustain as a food source provide. Although there are some costs to preserving this species to communities who must provide protection, this small sum of money is nothing compared to what detriment will be caused if this species is left to perish.

         The argument many landowners make against the preservation of the California Tiger Salamander is that the saving of the salamander will interfere with economic growth, which according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimate is a loss of $336 million, in places like Sonoma. This amount of money may seem expensive, but in comparison to the economic benefits the California Tiger Salamander provides due to their niches, this sum of money is nothing. In wetland ecosystems, California Tiger Salamanders are a part of this ecosystem's functionality. The Maryland Center for Environmental Studies states that the value of the United States ecosystem services are 18 trillion dollars. Although Salamanders seem small, their absence has a domino effect on other organisms. Without these salamanders, this vital ecosystems would surely be degraded. Because of their ecological role, the extinction of the salamanders would have an immense ripple effect. Some inevitable effects of their extinction would be the overpopulation of insects and all of their prey, as the Tiger Salamander is a tertiary consumer. Overpopulation in an ecosystem can wreak havoc on the food web, and cause the extinction of many other species.                          

       Wetland ecosystems are extremely important, and are some of the most biologically productive ecosystems on the planet. This ecosystems is responsible for a variety of services humans depends on including water purification, water storage in the porous mud, which reduces flooding. Salamanders also aid nutrient cycling, assisting with agriculture, and also help with fire suppression by preying on rodents who would chew wires causing fires. Without these services naturally provided by the California Tiger Salamanders are free, replacing these services would cost people billions of dollars. This human-centric view of the value of salamanders is enough reason in itself to want to save the salamanders. 

                 For me, even this compelling evidence is not what makes the salamander worth saving. Even though California Tiger Salamanders may be slimy amphibians, these animals are living beings, and they have the intrinsic right to exist, independent from what humans need from these animals. They have brains, they can feel pain, and because of the conditions they are in right now, they are dying by the hundreds. This massacre is directly caused by human activities. It is only ethically right that we try to amend for what we have done to this species. California Tiger Salamanders, as all other species on earth, should be preserved and valued akin to all other life.

Is the California Tiger Salamander Worth Saving?

By: Rose