Field Sites

[ElisandreArd]

Hi! My name is Elisandre Shanahan, and I'm a university student doing work at UMW in northeastern Virginia(FRED area) and I'm looking into niche partitioning between Eurycea and Plethodon in terrestrial environment with habitat use. I was wondering if anyone had tips for finding good sites where they may coexist and where they may exist separately so I can prove there is niche partitioning between the two via habitat use. I begin data collection in Fall 2023 so I'm currently choosing important sites and writing my grant proposal. I was also wondering if anyone had specific sites in mind in a drivable radius from that area(preferable hour maximum drive) that I might not be aware of? I'm also looking into how the different morphs for Plethodon use habitat differently as all three occur in generally equal frequency here. Additionally, I am creating what habitat characteristics would be important and currently I'm using temperature, temperature oscillation, pH, etc. but if anyone had important ones I may not know of that would be useful. Finally, if anyone knows important researchers in the area who may be important to come into contact with that'd be lovely! Using the literature I can tell there's some heavy dietary overlap not only between Plethodon vs Eurycea but between the polymorphic color morphs of Plethodon, hence why I am investigating if habitat use may differ between them.
If anyone has any diet data for Eurycea (mainly cirrigera or lineata) that would also be useful. Some tips for spotting these guys would be useful as well. Thank you!

 

[minorhero]

I always find two lined salamanders inside streams under rocks (the bigger and flatter the rock the more likely to find them, the ideal being a big flat rock that is part on the land and part in the water). I find red backed salamanders on dry or moist ground under logs (typically logs at least 6 inches in diameter). I don't think I've ever seen red backed salamanders in streams nor have I seen two lined salamanders under logs. This is a very good time of year to find both. That's about all I got. You may have more luck finding local people on facebook on one of the local groups. For example, this one: Herping Virginia & Maryland | Facebook