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

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...

Categories: Project; Types: Map Service, OGC WFS Layer, OGC WMS Layer, OGC WMS Service; Tags: 2015, CASC, Completed, Forests, Forests, All tags... Landscapes, Landscapes, Northeast, Northeast CASC, Other Wildlife, Other Wildlife, Projects by Region, Wildlife and Plants, Wildlife and Plants, demographic rates, distribution, forest management, physiology, surrogate species, Fewer tags