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 [...]
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 populations across the range of the species, which primarily occurs in mature deciduous forests across the northeastern half of North America. They found evidence that salamanders will be negatively impacted by warmer temperatures and drier conditions, both in terms of how well they might survive but also in their ability to move around on the forest floor. With reductions in surface activity, there are less opportunities for the salamanders to forage or find mates.
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AdirondackPark_AlanCressler.jpg “Adirondack Park - Credit: Alan Cressler”
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Objectives. 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.