The Green Salamander (Aneides aeneus) is distributed from central Alabama to southwestern Pennsylvania along the Appalachian Plateau. A separate and smaller cluster of populations, or “disjunct” population, occurs in the southern Blue Ridge Mountains of Georgia, South Carolina, and southwest North Carolina. It is the only representative of the genus Aneides, or “Climbing Salamanders,” in the eastern United States and is also considered a relict of the previously circumpolar “Arcto-tertiary” forest, of which the mixed mesophytic forest community is the closest remaining example.

The Green Salamander is primarily considered a rock-crevice dwelling species easily identified by the presence of greenish lichen colored patches on a black dorsum, a flattened body, long legs, and squared toe-tips. Individuals of the Blue Ridge populations typically inhabit shaded rock outcrops in mixed mesophytic forests between 500 and 1,300 meters in elevation. Adults measure 8 to 14 centimeters long, and can be observed (during the warmer seasons) in shaded rock crevices by day, or on rock faces at night.

During the spring and summer, breeding females require cool, clean and moist horizontal crevices or narrow chambers in which to suspend their eggs from an overhead substrate. Such habitat provides a specific micro-climate necessary for successful embryonic development. In fall, individuals of all age classes congregate near deep rock crevices for use during winter hibernation. Due to these unique habitat requirements, the Green Salamander is patchily distributed and uncommon throughout its range.

Blue Ridge populations of Aneides experienced a dramatic decline during the late 1970s, which prompted a status review by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Although Aneides was denied federal status, it was listed as endangered by the state of North Carolina.

Recent findings from long term monitoring of 13 Aneides populations within the Savannah watershed of North Carolina (the “embayment”) demonstrated a 98% decline since 1970 (Corser, J.D. 2000. Decline of disjunct Green Salamander populations in the southern Appalachians. Biological Conservation 97:119-126). Ongoing genetic research regarding the phylogeny of Aneides aeneus shows that the species actually consists of 4 separate species (Corser, pers.com.). Of these four, two occur in North Carolina; one within the embayment and the other within Hickory Nut Gorge.

Due to the severe decline within the embayment population and the extremely limited distribution of the Hickory Nut Gorge population, the Green Salamander will likely be petitioned once again for federal listing under the ESA.

The causes for decline are unknown but are believed to involve a combination of factors such as over-collecting, acid rain, climate change, and pathogens. Habitat destruction, as with most imperiled species, is likely the primary culprit.

Direct habitat destruction from development and loss of shading due to logging has caused previously occupied rock outcrops to become abandoned. Most known populations are located on public land and in order to maintain the shading of rock outcrops, the U. S. Forest Service has a policy of leaving a 100 foot buffer around potential habitats when logging.

However, the long-term survival of these small colonies may suffer due to a larger problem of depressed populations, limited dispersal, and stochastic events. The rock outcrop “patches” currently inhabited by Aneides are essentially islands among a sea of non-suitable habitat.

Many observations from Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia report Aneides breeding and foraging under slabs of exfoliating bark during the early 1900s, when old growth forests were still abundant in these areas.

Early observations also report Aneides occupying small cavities within standing trees and in the tops of recently felled trees. Such arboreal observations are also emerging within the Blue Ridge disjunct (Wilson C. R., in prep.). One observation, photographed by the late George and Mille Blaha in 1974, documents a female tending a clutch of eggs within the hollowed chamber of a fire-scarred American Chestnut log near Brevard, North Carolina.

These observations support theories that the rarity of Aneides is linked to the loss of old-growth mixed mesophytic forests dominated by American Chestnut. The micro-habitat provided under exfoliating slabs of bark or in hollowed cavities is apparently similar to that of a rock crevice. The ideal woody crevice habitat would consist of large, thick slabs of exfoliating bark or hollowed logs. Such features are characteristic of old growth forests.

The second- and third-growth forests that currently predominate the landscape contain very little large-woody-debris. Exfoliating bark and hollowed chambers occur during the early decay classes of a dead tree. The previous abundance and rot resistant properties of American Chestnut may have maintained the early decay classes necessary for Aneides breeding over a longer time frame than other types of woody debris, making habitat less spatially and temporally patchy. Presumably, there would have been an abundance of breeding habitat immediately after the chestnut blight; however, these habitats quickly disappeared due to culling.

The loss of woody crevice habitat due to logging and the chestnut blight may have restricted breeding to the crevices of rock outcrops. Appropriate rock crevice habitat is patchily distributed and isolated throughout Aneides’ Blue Ridge disjunct relative to the main range, perhaps making the Blue Ridge population more susceptible to stochastic processes and contributing to the reported decline. Unwitting collectors, both scientific and hobby/pet-trade oriented, may have delivered the “coup de grace” to these already unstable populations.

The Green Salamander is a strikingly beautiful and mysterious animal, much coveted by collectors. The majority of collecting is likely concentrated during the summer months when collectors are free for vacations or research. Because the female remains stationary with a clutch for the entire summer, she and her eggs represent the demographics most vulnerable to collecting.

Aneides females begin breeding during the second or third year of life; breed on a bi-annual basis thereafter; and are believed to live approximately ten years in the wild. Without recruitment from outside sources, removal of brooding females over several consecutive years from the same site could eliminate the entire breeding population.

Clearly this animal is in trouble, and some believe it could go extinct in the Blue Ridge at anytime. Aneides is a fascinating and particularly difficult animal to study, and there are many gaps in our understanding regarding the causes for its decline. The two most obvious threats are collecting and destruction of habitat by development and silvicultural operations.

While these may not be the ultimate causes for decline, they are certainly damaging and controllable. Developers and foresters should survey for potential habitats and avoid disturbance to rock-outcrops. Such steep and rocky areas are often problematic for building, and the developer may benefit by donating those portions to a land trust as a conservation easement.

Such a donation would benefit a suite of other rare species, dramatically reduce income taxes, and increase the value of adjacent parcels. Other immediate recommendations include strengthening and enforcing restrictions on collecting and incidental take, extensive surveys for new breeding sites, and more research regarding the population ecology of Aneides and its reintroduction within Blue Ridge. Ultimately, the only way to recover the Green Salamander may be through public education and involvement.

Christopher Wilson is a zoologist with Appalachian Ecological Consultants and a graduate student in the Department of Biology at Appalachian State University. His thesis research involves the status and conservation of the Green Salamander in the Blue Ridge disjunct.

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