NPS Photo By: Lester Via

Shenandoah salamander.

• Scientific Name: Plethodon shenandoah
• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Amphibia
• Order: Caudata
• Family: Plethodontidae
• Subfamily: Plethodontinae
• Tribe: Plethodontini
• Genus: Plethodon
• Species: Plethodon shenandoah

Introduction
The Shenandoah Salamander is a member of the family Plethodontidae. This group of salamanders are lungless with respiration occurring through their skin. Successful respiration depends on the ability to maintain skin moisture requirements. This characteristic restricts their size and influences ecological roles of those species that are terrestrial.

The lungless salamanders are a highly successful group that are believed to have originated in the Appalachians of eastern North America.

Physical Description
The Shenandoah Salamander is a small species of Plethodon reaching a total length of 7-10cm. Two distinct color phases exist – a striped phase with a narrow red to yellow stripe along the length of the dorsal surface and an unstriped or uniformly dark phase. Some dark phase individuals may also have scattered brassy colored flecks. The Shenandoah Salamander can be distinguished from its close relative the Red-backed Salamander externally by stripe width (equal to 1/3 of total body width in the Shenandoah Salamander vs. 2/3 of total body width in Red-backed Salamander) along with the absence of a strongly mottled “salt and pepper” patterned underside (present in the Red-backed Salamander but not in the Shenandoah Salamander). Adult Shenandoah Salamanders are also slightly larger and have more broadly rounded heads than do Red-backed Salamanders.

Life Span and Reproduction
It appears that females do not breed before four years of age. Breeding occurs in late spring or summer and fertilization is internal. Females lay eggs every other year with an average clutch size of 13 eggs which are laid in damp logs, moss, or moist crevices. Incubation lasts one to three months and development occurs completely within the egg. Females guard eggs and do not forage for food during this time. Eggs hatch in late summer or fall.

Other than a number of suspect individuals found within the Hawksbill Mountain population, no major hybridization has been documented between the Shenandoah Salamander and the Red-backed Salamander. There is no genetic distinction in the populations of the Shenandoah Salamander that occur over the three mountains in its range.

Adults appear to survive for long periods with a few possiblysurviving as long as 25 years.

Habitat and Range
All members of the genus Plethodon are terrestrial and they are usually found in forested areas. Forest cover is key in that it supports higher surface ground moisture, critical to these species of salamanders. The Shenandoah Salamander is only found on north or northwest slopes of the Pinnacles, Hawksbill Mountain, and Stony Man Mountain within the Shenandoah National Park. The Shenandoah Salamander is generally found within moist microhabitats in otherwise dry talus areas between elevations of 914 and 1143m. The dry talus habitat is thought to be suboptimal for the Shenandoah Salamander, but due to suspected competition from the Red-backed Salamander, it is likely excluded from  deep soil habitats that are otherwise considered optimal for Plethodon salamanders. The small range of the Shenandoah Salamander and its restriction to certain habitats has caused it to be listed as Federally endangered.      

Behavior
The Shenandoah Salamander is primarily nocturnal.

Research indicates that the range of the Shenandoah Salamander is restricted in part by competition with the Red-back Salamander. This competition tends to limit the range of Shenandoah Salamander populations to drier rocky talus slopes. These salamanders appear to be better adapted to drier habitat conditions than are Red-backed Salamanders.

Diet
Woodland salamanders, including the Shenandoah Salamander eat mites, flies, small beetles, springtails, and other invertebrates that are found in the soil.

Ecosystem Role
For most, salamanders, including the Shenandoah Salamander, are infrequently seen and rarely given much thought unless you are an amphibian enthusiast. This is unfortunate because salamanders serve several important ecological roles. These include predation on insects and other invertebrates, soil aeration and influence on soil dynamics brought about by burrowing, and they are a food source to other forest animals. Their predation on insects also influences ecosystem processes such as decomposition.

Threats
The Shenandoah Salamander was listed as Federally Endangered in 1989. This is due to its restricted range, limitations on range expansion and potential threats within defined population areas.  Although its range falls entirely within a National Park where protection might be assumed, there are many threats to this species. Periodic infestation of park forests by non-native insects and disease that result in defoliation and tree mortality alter habitat for the salamander. Acid deposition is believed to be altering park soil conditions. This, in turn, could alter hydro-chemical conditions that the Shenandoah Salamander needs, could alter forest vegetation growth and develop thus changing habitat, and could affect soil organisms that are consumed. Finally, human use (hiking, camping, trail maintenance, etc.) could have impacts on the salamander.

In 1994, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in concert with park staff, prepared a Recovery Plan for the Shenandoah Salamander. This document summarizes what is known about the species, explains why the species is considered endangered, and outlines steps that need to be taken to “recover” the species from this imperiled status.

Perhaps the most significant current concern is the lack of information about this species. While some scientific studies have been completed, more work could be done. The National Park Service will be working with other agencies in the near future on the development of appropriate monitoring techniques to better quantify Shenandoah Salamander numbers and population conditions.

References

Carpenter, D. W. et al. 2001. Conservation genetics of the endangered Shenandoah salamander (Plethodon Shenandoah, Plethodontidae). Animal Conservation 4: 111-119.

Jaeger, R. G. 1971. Competitive exclusion as a factor influencing the distributions of two species of terrestrial salamanders. Ecology 52: 632-637.

Petranka, J. W. Salamanders of the United States and Canada. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998. 397-399.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Endangered Species Profile

Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fish Species Description