5 



administered by the U.S. Forest Service, but these data are 

 biased by the fact that most surveys have been conducted on 

 National Forest system lands. 



Although not all localities of occurrence have been 

 identified, the southern, eastern, and western edges of 

 distribution are likely limited by lack of moisture, 

 discontinuous geologic formations, and high temperatures. Few 

 surveys have been conducted in British Columbia, but the species 

 was likely eliminated from most of the province during the last 

 ice age. The northern limit of current distribution probably 

 represents the extent of successful recolonization of suitable 

 habitat (Lynch 1984) . 

 Life history 



Coeur d'Alene salamanders are adapted to a severe environment. 

 The salamanders are usually only above ground at night during 

 moist weather in the spring and fall (Nussbaum et al. 1983) , 

 although at some sites salamanders exhibit nocturnal surface 

 activity throughout the summer. Summer surface activity in seeps 

 is negatively correlated with high daytime temperatures and days 

 since last rain (Wilson and Larsen 1988) . 



Overall, the salamanders may spend up to seven months of the 

 year underground in cool, moist interstitial spaces between rocks 

 to avoid desiccation in summer and freezing in winter. This 

 extensive underground activity presents a major challenge to 

 research and monitoring. 



When above ground, Coeur d'Alene salamanders feed primarily on 



