How did the salamander cross the road? A salamander-sized tunnel, of course

Crossing the road at Kouchibouguac National Park is no joke for amphibians that live there.

Thousands of frogs, salamanders, newts and other types of amphibians have been killed over the years by cars and trucks travelling through the park.

Now there is a safe passageway for these species. Four underpasses have been designed and installed in key areas under Route 117, which crosses the park. These underground tunnels safely guide amphibians and reptiles that need to cross the road during their annual migration.

"The way I see it, it's not the amphibian that is crossing the road, it's the road that is crossing the amphibian's habitat," said Eric Tremblay, ecologist at Kouchibouguac National Park.

"There are migration routes between their terrestrial habitat and aquatic habitat, but that's a natural biological process that we humans interfere with."

We have pictures of a bear that spent an afternoon in the shade in one of the crossings.- Eric Tremblay, ecologist

Scientists at the park have known for years there was a high rate of mortality along the stretch of Route 117 that crosses the park. They did a study almost 20 years ago about the impact of traffic on amphibians. A graduate student, who was working on his thesis at Laval University, identified four hot spots around the park for amphibians.

But even with that information, there was little they could do because the cost of installing wildlife crossings was too high.

It wasn't until 2015, when a 24-kilometre stretch along Route 117 was rehabilitated through a federal investment project, that they saw their chance.

"That's when I saw the opportunity that we could install, during that construction project, amphibian crossings," Tremblay said. "That's where the project started."

He said the four crossings were installed at that time. Two of them are just the right size for amphibians. They are amphibian-sized cement tunnels that are just below the surface of the road. "The top of the block is open with a slot to let the water go through and the light filter through. If there's no light filtering through, the amphibians are kind of (scared) to go through the tunnel, but if they see the light through the roof, they will go through it."

The other two tunnels are much bigger with a diameter of 1.2 metres. These are easier for wood turtles and snapping turtles to use. However, they often have to share this space with some of their other friends in the park.

"Not only reptiles and amphibians are using it, but we have fox, skunk, mice, a bear," Tremblay said. "We have pictures of a bear that spent an afternoon in the shade in one of the crossings. So, it's being used by all kind of wildlife."

Tracking amphibians

The park is using two different ways of monitoring how the tunnels are being used. Wildlife cameras are set up at the underpasses and they have also inserted Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags under the skin of amphibians to track movement.

"It's the same principle as when you go to the store and you take your item and you pass it in front of a detector, it goes beep-beep like a code tag," said Tremblay. "So, when the individual frogs or salamanders are crossing in front of the detectors that we have at the crossing, then we collect the data."  

All of the data is collected as part of a two-year study by a researcher at Laval University and Kouchibouguac National Park. With two years of data, they can map and see the migration patterns and learn more about the efficiency of these tunnels. Even though they are only halfway through the study, Tremblay knows the project is working.

"So far we know that the crossings are working. Species are using it."