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The Jemez Mountains salamander: a rare lungless amphibian under study
The Jemez Mountains salamander has no lungs and breathes through its skin, which keeps it underground except when it rains. The National Park Service describes it as one of the rarest species on the planet. Valles Caldera National Preserve and Bandelier National Monument are home to the animal (Plethodon neomexicanus), found only in the Jemez Mountains of north-central New Mexico and listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2013.
A Jemez Mountains salamander on the forest floor. NPS photo.
How it lives
The small amphibian grows up to five inches (12.7 cm) long and spends most of its life underground. It needs no standing water at any life stage, but because it has no lungs it takes in oxygen directly through its skin and needs a moist environment. It therefore comes to the surface only in wet periods in the warmer months, usually in the summer monsoon season. It thrives in the cool, high-elevation volcanic mountains of the Valles Caldera, in shady, wooded sites 7,500 to 9,500 feet (2,300 to 2,900 m) up, often in mixed-conifer forest with fir, spruce and aspen. It eats ants, mites, spiders and small beetles, and when active above ground it is found under rocks, bark, logs and moss mats or inside decomposing logs. Little is known of its underground life. It is presumed to lay its eggs there, and it is known that the young are fully formed when they hatch.
A Jemez Mountains salamander. NPS photo.
Threats and restoration
The species faces climate-related challenges: high-severity wildfires, drought and warming. Protecting and restoring its cool, moist, shaded habitat is essential, and Valles Caldera biologists are carrying out forest restoration to protect it and other animals.
What researchers are doing
Research and monitoring at Valles Caldera depend on partners: university and U.S. Geological Survey scientists, the U.S. Forest Service, the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish, the New Mexico endemic salamander team and an amphibian and reptile conservancy.
A detector used to search for a previously captured salamander that was implanted with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag. NPS photo.
| Project | What it asks |
|---|---|
| Activity periods (research) | When is the salamander above ground and active on the forest floor? |
| Disease (research) | Amphibian fungal pathogens have been found in three Jemez Mountains salamanders and other amphibians nearby; work is under way to learn how widespread the disease is and how it spreads. |
| Soils (monitoring) | How do forest management approaches affect the structure and function of soil communities and non-living soil properties? |
| Habitat (monitoring) | How do forest restoration practices affect the microclimate of salamander habitat? |
| Fire (monitoring) | How well do active management tools reduce the chance of wildfire damage to the protected salamanders while preserving or restoring critical habitat? |
Thermal imagery of heat released during managed fire activities. Image from the National Park Service's page.
Sources
- National Park Service, "Research Spotlight: Jemez Mountains Salamander" (https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/jemez-mountains-salamander.htm); the named partner scientists are not repeated here; rewritten in hubnx's own words.