Great Basin spadefoot (Spea intermontana) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 9
Special Significance of the Species
Spea intermontanais one of a suite of grassland and open woodland species restricted to the southern interior of British Columbia. Taxa such as the Pygmy Short-horned Lizard (Phrynosoma douglassii – now extirpated), Night Snake (Hypsiglena torquata), Gray Flycatcher (Empidonax wrightii), Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus), Pallid Bat (Antrozous pallidus), Showy phlox (Phlox speciosa), and Lyall’s mariposa lily (Calochortus lyallii) all inhabit these ecosystems, and occur nowhere else in Canada.
Consultations in Nine Aboriginal communities in south-central British Columbia suggest that although not used for food or medicinal purposes, Spadefoots are considered beneficial as they provide food for other animals, such as turtles (Markey and Ross 2005). They are recognized as an integral part of the ecosystem, and awareness exists about their distribution and habits.
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