Survey of Sites Where Notophthalmus viridescens May Come into Contact with Human Activity

Author Names and Emails

Noah BowenFollow

Authors' Affiliations

Noah Bowen, Department of Biology, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

Location

Culp Ballroom

Start Date

4-7-2022 9:00 AM

End Date

4-7-2022 12:00 PM

Poster Number

99

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Biological Sciences

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Thomas Laughlin

Classification of First Author

Undergraduate Student

Competition Type

Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Biogeography

Abstract or Artist's Statement

The Appalachian Mountains are the source of the greatest diversity of salamanders in the world and the preservation and protection of this unique regional diversity are of important consideration. Salamanders can be subject to numerous diseases like ranaviruses and chytrid fungi, but an important factor to consider is other stressors that may affect salamander’s ability to recover from outbreaks. Human activity, be it habitat disruption or providing some vector for disease spread between populations and species, may have large impacts upon salamander population health. Identifying sites where salamanders and human activity are frequently overlapping in the territory could provide sites for future comparisons between more isolated populations and allow a better understanding of how humans may affect salamander populations.

To identify sites where human activity may be common, a newt that is a quick colonizer of ephemeral pools, the Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) was selected to observe. These sites were qualified upon their likeliness to support Notophthalmus viridescens individuals and other amphibian life cycles. Details such as forested canopy, ephemeral pools or stationary water ponds, leaf litter, and other amphibian activity were qualified by their presence or lack thereof. These sites were surveyed during fall thru winter, and the distance between these sites and closest human activity centers were measured in meters using Google Maps. Such activity centers could be classified as residences, public buildings, roads, trails, fences, or land disturbed by human activity like a construction site. Some sites will be purposely further away from human activity as for some comparison to more isolated sites. These sites should show that Notophthalmus viridescens can be found near human activity centers and therefore may be subject to be much influence from them.

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Apr 7th, 9:00 AM Apr 7th, 12:00 PM

Survey of Sites Where Notophthalmus viridescens May Come into Contact with Human Activity

Culp Ballroom

The Appalachian Mountains are the source of the greatest diversity of salamanders in the world and the preservation and protection of this unique regional diversity are of important consideration. Salamanders can be subject to numerous diseases like ranaviruses and chytrid fungi, but an important factor to consider is other stressors that may affect salamander’s ability to recover from outbreaks. Human activity, be it habitat disruption or providing some vector for disease spread between populations and species, may have large impacts upon salamander population health. Identifying sites where salamanders and human activity are frequently overlapping in the territory could provide sites for future comparisons between more isolated populations and allow a better understanding of how humans may affect salamander populations.

To identify sites where human activity may be common, a newt that is a quick colonizer of ephemeral pools, the Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) was selected to observe. These sites were qualified upon their likeliness to support Notophthalmus viridescens individuals and other amphibian life cycles. Details such as forested canopy, ephemeral pools or stationary water ponds, leaf litter, and other amphibian activity were qualified by their presence or lack thereof. These sites were surveyed during fall thru winter, and the distance between these sites and closest human activity centers were measured in meters using Google Maps. Such activity centers could be classified as residences, public buildings, roads, trails, fences, or land disturbed by human activity like a construction site. Some sites will be purposely further away from human activity as for some comparison to more isolated sites. These sites should show that Notophthalmus viridescens can be found near human activity centers and therefore may be subject to be much influence from them.