Cloud-climbing Salamanders of New Mexico:
Impact of Logging and Wildfire

Rising from a sea of pinyon-juniper lowlands, the Sacramento Mountains in south-central New Mexico rise above the clouds to elevations of 3,655 m. At the higher elevations, and in the nearby Capitan and White mountains, the Sacramento Mountain salamander occurs (Fig. 1). A locality record of 3,600 m gives it the distinction of being the only North American salamander to occur in alpine tundra habitat. It is one of two species of lungless salamanders known to inhabit New Mexico.

Most individuals occur within the mixed-conifer forest of firs and spruce at elevations above 2440 m, where they can be found within and under logs and moist litter, and under rocks and bark. Unlike other salamanders that must return to water to lay eggs, the Sacramento Mountain salamander is completely terrestrial. But despite its independence from free-standing water, the salamander needs to maintain a moist skin for gas exchange, making it vulnerable to activities such as logging and wildfire. These forest disturbances can have devastating impacts on salamander abundance and persistence, and have prompted several long-term studies by USGS scientists.

LEFT: Sacramento Mountain salamander (Aneides hardii). Photo: Ian Murray, University of New Mexico. Used with permission. MIDDLE: One of the 16 logging-impacts study sites (mixed-conifer forest) showing status within one year of being tractor-logged. Photo taken August 1988 on the Turkey Sale, Otero County, Lincoln National Forest, New Mexico. Photo: Cindy Ramotnik, USGS. RIGHT: Photo of a severe-burn study site, showing 100 percent tree kill and the absence of litter, which exposes the underlying rock. Photo taken October 2000, 5 months after the fire. Photo: Cindy Ramotnik, USGS.

Logging

Between 1986 and 2001, scientists with the USGS Fort Collins Science Center examined the impact of logging on the abundance and long-term survival of Sacramento Mountain salamanders. Results from time-constrained surveys showed that salamanders are not eliminated from logged sites, and where logging has occurred, the number of salamanders is at or above pre-logging levels after 7 years. However, size-class distributions of salamanders show that juveniles compose a significantly smaller proportion of all salamanders on logged plots, which suggests that populations on logged plots produce fewer young in some years.

Wildfire

Almost coincidental with completion of the logging impacts study, a wildfire erupted on May 11, 2000, and burned more than 16,000 acres across a narrow swath containing salamander habitat. The wildfire created an unexpected opportunity for FORT scientist Cindy Ramotnik to examine the impacts of wildfire on Sacramento Mountain salamanders, their terrestrial insect prey base, and soil. Significant findings from the 5-year study are:

• Four years after the fire, severely burned sites were not sufficiently recovered for salamanders to reoccupy the surface habitats (Fig. 2). The effects of fire on salamanders on lightly burned sites are not extreme. 

• Impacts on the abundance and community composition of forest floor arthropods appear to be moderate after 5 years. The beetle and spider community composition changed by becoming less diverse and less abundant.  While the fire did result in declines of some common arthropod groups, a few groups showed the opposite response. Family richness, while not necessarily a measure of arthropod recovery, had not yet returned to pre-burn levels on burned sites after 5 years.
• The fire caused a short-term pulse of changes in the mineral soil that resulted in a significant reduction in soil [H+], soil organic matter, and water-holding capacity that lasted for about 3 years. 

Today, the distribution of the salamander appears to be consistent with that of its historical range. In fact, some populations at the southern end of its range are locally abundant and widespread. Several publications synthesizing the biology and conservation status of the Sacramento Mountain salamander (including some listed below) have augmented the growing body of knowledge that will help guide future conservation and management decisions for this species.

Related Publications

• Aneides hardii (Taylor, 1941): Sacramento Mountain salamander
• The cloud-climbing salamanders of New Mexico
• Conservation assessment of the Sacramento Mountain salamander
• Does the Sacramento Mountain salamander require old-growth forests?
• Effect of wildfire on abundance, detection probability, and arthropod prey base of Sacramento Mountain salamanders (Aneides hardii)
• Habitat requirements of New Mexico’s endangered salamanders
• The Scott Able Fire: Effects on select soil parameters within Sacramento Mountain salamander habitat [Presentation]

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For more information, contact:

Cindy Ramotnik
Arid Lands Field Station
UNM Biology Department MSC03 2020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Phone: 505-277-5369
Fax: 505.277.0304
Email: ramotnik@usgs.gov