Prairie skink (Eumeces septentrionalis) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 11

Summary of Status Report

The Prairie Skink is a small insectivorous lizard. Canadian populations are disjunct from US populations and are limited to two small areas (<1770 kmĀ²) in southwestern Manitoba. The main area is the Carberry Sandhills, with most observations within 25 km of Carberry. A small disjunct population (<1 km) is also known from the Lauder Sandhills, approximately 90 km southwest of the Carberry Sandhills.

The Prairie Skink is dependent upon sandy soils of mixed grass prairie areas in Manitoba. This habitat is under significant threat from cultivation. Mixed grass prairie is also being lost to succession to Aspen Parkland largely as a result of fire suppression. In addition, the invasive exotic Leafy Spurge is taking over many mixed grass prairie habitats. Areas with high concentration of Leafy Spurge apparently are no longer habitable by Prairie Skinks. The loss of mixed grass prairie is eliminating and fragmenting skink habitat. This is particularly important in a species with low population densities, limited dispersal abilities and at its extreme northern limit.

Accurate information on the number or size of populations is not available. This is due in part to the secretive nature of this species and the lack of recent surveys across the Canadian range. Significant, and likely rapid, declines have certainly occurred recently due to habitat loss, but the size of the decline cannot be precisely quantified.

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