By mid-May, wildlife biologist Jocelyn Howell had spent weeks lifting rocks and logs by hand in the Ouachita National Forest. Her strategy was to flip them quickly and watch for movement in the dark soil. It was the fourth year she searched for a secretive species of salamander in the southeastern Oklahoma forest.
Howell works for the U.S. Forest Service in the Oklahoma Ranger District. The agency conducts an annual survey of the Rich Mountain salamander, named after a ridge in the Ouachita range, with the help of the state Department of Wildlife Conservation.
The information collected during the search is used to form a record of the species’ population size. The Rich Mountain salamander is found in the national forest on “sky islands,” which are peaks with relatively high elevations. It’s also listed as a species of greatest conservation need in the wildlife department’s latest action plan.
While most of the Ouachita National Forest is within the Arkansas state line, the area is still recognized as Oklahoma's most biodiverse region.
“We have peaks that are over 1,000 feet from the river valleys below,” said Priscilla Crawford, coordinator of the Oklahoma Natural Heritage Inventory. “That topographic diversity makes the plants and animals diverse in the whole area.”
Crawford said the forest is home to similar species to the Smoky Mountains, since it’s on the western tip of the Appalachians. But some animals, including the Rich Mountain salamander, aren’t found anywhere in the world except the Ouachitas.
“Keeping an eye on a rare or limited species is a pretty big deal for us,” Jena Donnell, communication specialist with the state wildlife department, said.
Tracking population trends of amphibians can reveal more than just their annual health records. Researchers say the work can also indicate how their surroundings are faring. As the planet experiences warmer temperatures on average and more extreme weather, this kind of data can create a baseline to compare future findings.
Owen Edwards, heritage zoologist at the Oklahoma Biological Survey, said amphibians, especially salamanders, serve as bioindicators of ecosystems.
“They're very extremely sensitive to changes in the water systems and temperature and moisture,” he said.
Edwards is also working on a salamander survey with the wildlife department to gather more information on the forest dwellers. He said Oklahoma has up to 27 salamander species, and most of them are at their westernmost range limits.
“What that means for them is usually that they are lower population sizes, they have more sensitivity to climate change and changes in the environment,” he said. “So if we start seeing salamanders disappearing or undergoing population declines in Oklahoma specifically, that's probably going to be really alarming for the species as a whole.”
Howell said the Rich Mountain salamander is also an umbrella species, meaning its survival affects its ecosystem.
“It can determine that the habitat is changing, and we might need to do something to get the habitat back so we're not losing multiple species,” she said.
In the months leading up to the Forest Service’s survey, the salamanders burrowed deep beneath leaves, rocks and twigs to avoid winter weather. They emerged with spring rain, but still tend to avoid dry afternoons by lounging under forest debris.
During the survey day in May, just one salamander was found by Howell because of the warm and dry conditions. The late morning searches were conducted in timed 30-minute segments, producing more spiders, beetles and snakes than amphibians. Still, Howell said the information is vital for future generations of researchers.
“We want to protect them all, we want to do the best that we can for them — and when I say them, all species, as well as the salamanders. I feel like I owe it to the next generation to do everything I can to give them that data, that if something is to unfortunately happen to this species, they've got that data,” she said.
Like the Texas horned lizard, the Rich Mountain salamander has a closed season in Oklahoma. Residents can’t pursue or catch them without a scientific collector's permit. But Donnell said she welcomes observations of the species from recreationists who see them out in the wild.
The wildlife department has just a handful of biologists focused on non-game species, she said, and they can only be in a few places across the state at once.
“Having citizen scientists, people that are really interested in nature, in reptiles and amphibians and other taxa, having them be an extension and go out and share their sightings, let us know where certain species are, that can definitely help plan other surveys,” she said. “And it can also just help us check the pulse on a lot of species just because there are so many great observations out there.”
In all, Howell said the month-long survey resulted in seven Rich Mountain salamander sightings. That’s an uptick from last year, she said, as the number varies.
“When you're surviving up here and you're living up here, this is your area, this is your world and there's so much to it and they're so small,” she said. “It's miraculous to me that something that little in this vast of a mountain can survive and thrive and is doing well.”
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