Skip to main content

Understanding the Future of Red-Backed Salamanders as an Indicator of Future Forest Health

Characterizing Local and Rangewide Variation in Demography and Adaptive Capacity of a Forest Indicator Species
Principal Investigator
Evan Grant

Dates

Start Date
2015-06-24
End Date
2018-06-30
Release Date
2015

Summary

Climate change will have sweeping impacts across the Northeast, yet there are key gaps in our understanding about whether species will be able to adapt to this changing environment. Results from this project will illuminate local and region-wide changes in forest ecosystems by studying the red-backed salamander, a species that is a strong indicator of forest conditions. This study identified habitat and forest characteristics that improve the resiliency of forest dwelling amphibians and other wildlife to climate change. Further, by studying a foundational species in forest floor ecosystems, the scientists can use the information to make inferences about rare and declining species. The researchers studied multiple red-backed salaamander [...]

Child Items (4)

Contacts

Principal Investigator :
Evan Grant
Funding Agency :
Northeast CSC
Cooperator/Partner :
David Miller
CMS Group :
Climate Adaptation Science Centers (CASC) Program

Attached Files

Click on title to download individual files attached to this item.

AdirondackPark_AlanCressler.jpg
“Adirondack Park - Credit: Alan Cressler”
thumbnail 275.72 KB image/jpeg

Project Extension

parts
typeTechnical Summary
valueObjectives. Using a combination of observational and experimental data, we ask three questions aimed at determining the adaptive capacity of the species. 1) What is the potential for behavioral plasticity to mitigate climate impacts within populations? 2) Does within-population variation in climate tolerance provide a genetic pool that may facilitate adaptation? 3) Is there local adaptation to environmental conditions across the species’ range? The information will aid in developing and relating Habitat Management Plans for FWS, Forest Management Plans for USFS, and General Management Plans for NPS resource managers across the range of the species. Second, the information can inform the development and application of other LCC-wide landscape projects, including the Designing Sustainable Landscapes (DSL) program. Background. Methods used to predict species responses to climate change, such as static species distribution or habitat capacity modeling, have limited capacity to account for adaptive potential in forecasts of range shifts and population extinction risk. Understanding adaptive capacity in the red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) has implications for other rare or range-restricted Plethodon in particular, and forest resource condition and response to environmental change in general. Methods. We will use both observational and experimental methods. Observational data will focus on understanding how individuals and populations respond to spatial, seasonal, and annual differences in environmental conditions across the species’ range. In addition, we will experimentally modify environmental conditions in both field and lab. Products. The proposed project represents a truly regional approach to describing spatial variation in a common forest-dependent salamander species. This work will advance key priorities for the North Atlantic and Upper Midwest and Great Lakes Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCCs) by providing ecologically relevant metrics for assessing management of forest ecosystems, and an understanding of the spatial variation in expected adaptive capacity of local populations to climate change. In addition, the spatial data may be used to validate and improve products from the LCC-funded Designing Sustainable Landscapes project; as most of the surrogate species used in the DSL are migratory birds, the data and inference from our proposed salamander work will provide a key independent dataset of a forest indicator species. Personnel. USGS will provide regional contacts, coordination, development of methods, collection of data and analysis expertise, Penn State will contribute to development of methods, collection of data, and analysis expertise.
projectStatusCompleted

Budget Extension

annualBudgets
year2015
totalFunds37355.0
parts
typeAgreement Type
valueCOA
typeAgreement Number
valueCM4225
totalFunds37355.0

Adirondack Park - Credit: Alan Cressler
Adirondack Park - Credit: Alan Cressler

Map

Spatial Services

ScienceBase WMS

Communities

  • National and Regional Climate Adaptation Science Centers
  • Northeast CASC

Associated Items

Tags

Provenance

Additional Information

Identifiers

Type Scheme Key
RegistrationUUID NCCWSC 4ed800a7-0d36-419b-9a32-9c85487dbf40
StampID NCCWSC NE14-GE0241

Item Actions

View Item as ...

Save Item as ...

View Item...