Western newts (genus Taricha) include four species endemic to the West coast. There have been multiple reported die offs of populations of Taricha both in California and Washington, but it is not understood what led to this mass mortality. To better understand the reason these populations are experiencing die off events we investigated disease dynamics of populations in Point Reyes National Park (Marin County, California) and populations at Pine Lake (Washington). We also surveyed local biologists and scientists in the Bay Area to find more populations of newts exhibiting similar symptoms. With these data we built a case criteria for sick and dying newts to help other scientists identify and diagnose these mass die off events. Many amphibian species are in drastic decline from disease and loss of habitat. Being able to identify these mass mortality events and gather data on possible emerging diseases in amphibian communities is vital to conservation efforts. 

Bria Boose is a second-year master’s student in the Vredenburg Lab at San Francisco State University. She is interested in amphibian conservation and freshwater ecology. She graduated from University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology where she fell in love with herpetology and first became working with amphibians. She continues working with amphibians today looking at issues facing newts in the Bay Area for her masters work.