Ecology and Vulnerability

Spring Salamander

Background
The spring salamander ranges throughout the Appalachian Mountains from Quebec to Alabama (Bruce 1972).  The species primarily frequents the cool, well oxygenated waters of headwater streams (small streams that are the origins of most rivers), though it may also be found in springs and seepages (Bruce 1972; DeGraaf & Rudis 1983).  The salamander larvae are strictly aquatic.  Larvae live within the stream for an average of four years before metamorphosing into the adult form (DeGraaf & Rudis 1983).  Adults are also highly aquatic, but will venture out of water and into the riparian environment to forage (Lowe et al., 2006).  Although this species may be found under forest logs (Bruce 1972), one study found that maximum distance travelled from source streams was less than 10 meters and that dispersal was limited to the linear stream channel (Greene et al., 2008). Spring salamanders in New England are frequently found in streams that contain brook trout, which prey upon them (Lowe et al., 2006).  Commonly, the species achieves greatest densities in upstream locations where barriers or ephemeral conditions exclude brook trout (Brooks 2009; Lowe et al., 2006).

Climate Impacts
In Massachusetts, spring salamanders are limited to clear, cold waters, mostly in the central to western half of the state.  They do not persist where waters have been warmed, muddied, or otherwise degraded (Commonwealth of Massachusetts 1994).  Because of these habitat requirements, it seems likely that warming of streams as a result of climate change has the potential to reduce habitat for this species.  Additionally, climate change is predicted to result in increased frequency of short-term droughts in the northeast (Huntington et al., 2009).  Reduced soil moisture during summer as a result of such droughts could potentially impact the adult phase, causing individuals that are away from water to get too dry (Lowe 2012). 

Although there is some uncertainty surrounding future projections for precipitation in the Northeast, increases in both winter and spring precipitation and extreme precipitation events are anticipated, likely resulting in increases in larger flash flood events (Hayhoe et al., 2007; Huntington et al., 2009; Kunkel et al., 2013).  Spring salamander abundance in a headwater stream in northern New Hampshire was negatively related to annual precipitation during a twelve year study; increasing precipitation appears to be causing a decline in addition of adults to the population, possibly through mortality of metamorphosing individuals during spring and fall floods, which have increased in volume and frequency with increases in precipitation where this study took place (Lowe 2012).