Blue Ridge Country - May/June 2017 - 16
Creature Feature CreAture FeAture At Home in the Clouds A rare species of salamander is found only in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park. by Nancy Henderson NPS PHOTO On a cool, rainy spring evening, on one of the three highest mountaintops in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, a hiker just might be lucky enough to spot one of the park's rare, namesake amphibians when it comes out to forage for food. "Most people think of salamanders and they think of creeks. But in this case, it's a terrestrial salamander that spends a lot of its time underground in rocky slopes," says James Schaberl, the park's chief of natural and cultural resources, of the aptly named Shenandoah salamander. "It's not going to be on the surface all the time." The endangered, 3-inch-long striped critter lives in roughly 6,000 acres in only one known place in the world: the park. A close cousin of the red-backed salamander, which is commonly found throughout the state, the indigenous Shenandoah species is believed to have been more widespread thousands of years ago, with a range that included the Shenandoah Valley and other parts of Appalachia. So what happened? "The people who've done the analysis on the animal and its history indicate that it was [impacted] by a larger climate change," says Schaberl, noting that the lungless creature prefers moist soil draped in a thick layer of clouds. "A long time ago, the valley was colder, wetter and more suitable for this species. But as things changed, the animal retreated to places that are more environmentally suitable. So it's pretty much at the last place it could go-these higher elevations. There are many species like this in the Appalachians, where you have these endemic, high-elevation terrestrial salamanders perched at these mountaintops. "It's certainly nothing we've done," Schaberl adds, referring to the reason the salamander chose the Shenan16 BlueRidgeCountry.com doah National Park, and specifically the north-facing Hawksbill Mountain, The Pinnacles, and Stony Man Mountain, as home. "It's just the land form itself," he says. "Within a certain radius of here, about 20, maybe 30 miles, we have the highest range of mountain peaks in the central district of the park. And that's where it ended up. We just assume that this is its place to be." While warming temperatures have undoubtedly played a role in the dwindling population of Shenandoah salamanders, some experts theorize that competition from their hardier, red-backed kin may have greatly contributed to the decline. Since the 1960s, says Schaberl, scientists have been paying attention to the mostly-nocturnal critter and the issues it faces; it was listed as federally endangered in 1989 because of its restricted range and potential threats. To protect the salamander from outside dangers, National Park Service biologists carefully manage visitor use and landscape alterations in areas where the amphibians live. They are also studying its risk of extinction and possible preservation methods, such as making vegetation more hospitable for the Shenandoah and less so for the red-backed. "If we have to do something more radical in the future, where we have to move animals somewhere to save the species," Schaberl says, "we'll certainly consider that." And by all means, if you see one on the trail, please don't pick it up. "Their skin is very sensitive, and our skin has oils and salts that could harm the animal," Schaberl says. "Plus, we're very warm compared to these animals. They are about the same temperature as the environment, and our skin is near 100 degrees. We can have fun getting close and looking at these animals, but we ask people to approach them, look at them closely, but not handle them." ī