learn how to monitor the woodland salamander

1. Monitoring Plethodon cinereus
Patty McGinnis
Arcola Intermediate School

2. Identification
• Completely terrestrial
• Abundant
• 5.7-12.7 cm
• Redback phase is gray or
black body with a red stripe
down its back
• Leadback phase lacks the red
stripe
• Belly is mottled white and gray
• 16 to 19 costal grooves
• 5 toes on hind feet, 4 on front
• Male and female identical in
appearance

3. Range
• Eastern North
America
• Range extends west
to Missouri, south to
North Carolina and
north from southern
Quebec and the
Maritime Provinces in
Canada to Minnesota

4. Habitat
• Mixed Deciduous Forests
• Completely terrestrial
• Absorbs moisture through skin
• Prefers humid, shady areas
• Found underneath leaf litter,
under rocks, logs, and in
burrows
• Negatively affected by high
levels of acidity in soil
• Decreased moisture limits
range to under rocks or
burrows
• Over winter by burying below
frost line

5. Food
• Consume mites, spiders, insects,
centipedes, millipedes, beetles, snails,
ants, earthworms, flies, and insect larvae
• Capture prey with out-thrust tongue
• Forage during and after rains
• Can store fat to survive during dry
conditions

6. Prey
• Prey to snakes, birds,
mammals
• Will drop all or part of
their tail if attacked
(regrown tail is lighter
in color)

7. Niche
• Play an important role
in ecosystem by
providing food for
others and by eating
large numbers of
invertebrates
• P. cinereus biomass
is larger than
mammals and birds
combined

8. Lifespan
• No research on
P. cinereus
• P. jordani can
live up to 32 years
with an average of 9.8
years
(Hairston, 1983)

9. Reproduction
• Mate in fall
• Male deposits spermatophore
• Female picks up
spermatophore with cloaca
• 3 to 14 eggs are laid in spring
in cracks or crevices; female
guards eggs until they hatch
• Slime secreted by female
keeps eggs moist
• No aquatic larval stage
• Eggs develop directly into
young salamanders
• 2 years to maturity

10. Behavior
• Are solitary
• Exhibit territoriality to protect
food supply
• Capable of threatening
displays
• Scent marks and fecal pellets
are left by both sexes
• Cues tell territory, size and
sex, identify of resident
• Salamanders recognize
relatives through smell
• Juvenile kin are sometimes
allowed to feed in an adult’s
territory

11. Conservation Status
• Abundant, not
threatened
• Serve as bioindicators
• Impacted by clear
cutting, fungal
diseases, acid rain
• Do best in closed
canopy forests

12. Cover Boards
• Provide artificial cover through
arrays of cover boards
• Plywood or particle board, 2’ x
2’ in size
• Boards should not be dry or
new
• Place along transects
• Number the boards with spray
paint
• Place flagging on nearby tree
or use GPS to mark location

13. Monitoring Plots
• 1 m X 1 m plots
• Cover boards are at least 5 m
apart
• Salamanders are captured and
measured. Some studies mark
them using Visible Implant
Elastomers (VIE)
• Search cover boards every 2-3
weeks from April through
October/early November
• Other data can include
vegetation identification, litter
levels, decomposition, soil
temperature and moisture
• Leaf litter sample to identify
invertebrates (Berlese funnel)

14. Checking Boards
• Use a stick to turn
board towards you
• Always be aware of
snakes
• Release salamander
next to board

15. Collecting Data on Salamanders
• Snout to Tail Length,
Weight, Species
Identification
• Mass is taken with a
spring scale
• Salamanders are placed
in baggies
• Can be kept in
refrigerator for several
days if necessary

16. Handling Salamanders
• Handle as little as
possible
• Make sure hands are
free of soaps and
lotions
• Can wet hands with
spring water or
dampen hands with
soil

17. Salamanders and Students
• P. cinereus makes a
good test subject
• Numerous
• Easily found and
handled
• Inquiry experiments
can be developed
using cover boards in
different locations

18. References
• http://www.ccari.org/crccbp/literature.htm
• dnr.wi.gov/.../eek/critter/amphibian/index.htm
• http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Ple
thodon_cinereus.
• htmlhttp://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/Plethodon_cinereus/
• http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1656/045.016.0101
• http://www.invasiveplants.net/impsal.htm
• http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Plethodon/P_cinereus.shtml