An alpine newt at EEB2
Just before the All Saints' holidays, some S2 NLA students brought us an alpine newt they had found on the sports field. The amphibian had strayed from its habitat, the small protected pond at the end of the sports field, and was brought back to safety by Luc Van Cleemput, the site manager.
If you find a newt or salamander near the sports field, please do the same as Michail and his friends: take them to safety at the entrance to the reserve or bring them to Mrs Jeanjot (S2 educational adviser). This is a protected species. The pond and protected area created 30 years ago on the school grounds enable these animals, which have been weakened by human activity, to survive and reproduce.
Among the amphibians of Belgium, alpine newts (Triturus alpestris) are among the most colourful. The upper body colouring is bluish in males and greenish in females. The belly and throat are uniformly orange. This last point is important in distinguishing the alpine newt from certain salamanders. Generally, it is the shape of the tail that distinguishes newts (rather compressed and vertical) from salamanders (rather cylindrical), but for newts that spend a lot of time on land, the tail becomes rounded.
Newts belong to the order Urodela, i.e. amphibians that retain their tails in adulthood. With the exception of a few species in the north of South America, Urodela are animals of the northern hemisphere. Anurans (frogs, toads, etc.), amphibians that lose their tails during metamorphosis, on the other hand, are most abundant in the southern hemisphere.
Like all amphibians, newts are dependent on water sources such as pools, ponds and basins for all or part of their life cycle. They have a biphasic cycle, with a terrestrial phase (adult) and an aquatic phase (egg-laying and larva). In addition, like many members of the group, metamorphosed newts (adults) spend a lot of time out of the water. The establishment of a network of permanent, high-quality water sources is now recognised as an essential condition for the preservation of these animals.
Newts are ovoviviparous, meaning that after fertilisation, the eggs develop and hatch inside the female's body.The small larvae are born fully formed, quite similar to adults, except for their clearly visible external gills.
Adult animals are mainly terrestrial but generally do not stray more than 150 m from their breeding site. They live in the litter on the ground, searching for food: worms, springtails or woodlice.
They are typically ubiquitous animals when the water body necessary for reproduction is poor in fish.
Like salamanders, newts have aposematic colours, warning predators of a certain toxicity.
Newts and all amphibians are protected species under various Belgian royal decrees and orders. Their habitats are also protected, in particular through the Natura 2000 network, which covers 320,000 hectares in the three regions of Belgium.
Amphibians are extremely threatened by the expansion of human activities, the use of pesticides, the drying up of wetlands and road traffic. The creation and maintenance of nature reserves such as the school's are essential for the preservation of these animals, which are vital to the balance of natural ecosystems.
Finally, since 2012, a new danger has befallen newts and salamanders: Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal), a microscopic pathogenic fungus that most likely arrived through the trade in Asian salamanders and is particularly virulent against our alpine newt. It was the University of Ghent that identified this aggressor in 2013, after it had ravaged the entire population of Dutch fire salamanders in less than four years.
Source : Nicolas Duquenne, biology teacher
