Operation Shenandoah Salamander
National Zoo scientists combat salamander extinction in Appalachia.
When she was only five years old, Jennifer Sevin, biodiversity conservation specialist at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo, was already saving amphibians. In her hometown of Miami Beach, Florida, rain was as common as palm trees. During the daily downpours, many frogs would lay eggs in street gutters. But after an hour or so, the rain would cease and the sun would reappear, drying out and killing what the frogs had laid.
That’s when Sevin decided to take matters into her own hands. She started collecting the eggs and raising them in cups all around her house. “I was hatching and raising them at home all the way until college,” she says. “Little did I know, this early conservation work helped lay the groundwork for a career in which I would help protect frogs, salamanders, and many other animals for the Smithsonian!”
Saving Salamanders
Today, Sevin heads up a salamander conservation program in Shenandoah National Park for the National Zoo as part of her Ph.D. dissertation research. Along with two field technicians and a couple of interns, she is helping to conserve the Shenandoah salamander, an endangered amphibian found only in the Appalchian region.
On May 5, Sevin and her colleagues began studying the Shenandoah salamander in the wild for the second year, observing habitat range and population dispersal. During their research, her team will look at hybridization (breeding) between red-backed salamanders and Shenandoah salamanders and the competition between the two amphibians. Sevin believes the red-backed salamanders are forcing Shenandoah salamanders to remain in rocky areas on the tops of mountains.
Throughout the year, Sevin’s team will observe the Shenandoah salamanders in many locations. “We will visit more than 100 different sites to study the salamanders,” she says. “We’ll go to each site up to three times each season—spring, summer, and then again in the fall.”
Long term, Sevin hopes to assist Brian Gratwicke, the Zoo’s new amphibian conservation specialist, establish a program that will help ensure the survival of the species. She and her colleagues plan to breed Shenandoah salamanders at the Zoo in a 160-square-foot climate controlled room that can mimic a seasonal cycle.
An Appalachian Amphibian
Found on only three mountain tops within Appalachia, the Shenandoah salamander is threatened by habitat destruction and the defoliation of trees by gypsy moths. Without leaves to block the sun and provide lower temperatures, the salamander has to find cooler places to live.
Even though they spend their entire lives on land, Shenandoah salamanders have no lungs, but breathe through their skin. They are part of the largest family of salamanders, all of which are lungless.
Many Reasons to Help
Why are Sevin and her colleagues so interested in studying the Shenandoah salamander? First, the Appalachian region is a hot spot for a variety of salamanders that are threatened with extinction. Second, the Zoo’s Conservation and Research Center (CRC), a 3,200-acre facility that borders Shenandoah National Park, is a natural fit for amphibian conservation in the area. And third, very little is known about breeding native salamanders in zoos, or about them in general.
“There is so much more we need to learn about these salamanders,” says Sevin. “What little we know about them mostly comes from one researcher’s studies in the 1970s and ‘80s. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service developed a recovery plan for them in 1994, but very little research has been conducted since then.”
Amphibian Emergency
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All around the world, frogs, toads, salamanders, and caecilians are facing a crisis unprecedented in their 370 million year history. Of the roughly 6,000 amphibian species known to scientists, one-third are threatened with extinction. And of the 277 species listed as native amphibians in the U.S., about 43 percent are considered at risk.
For the most part, habitat loss, pollution, and the recently emerged chytrid fungus are the primary culprits for their impending extinction.
Affecting amphibians around the globe, the chytrid fungus is a fatal infectious disease caused by a microscopic fungus. It was first identified by a team of scientists at the National Zoo in 1999. Associated with the decline of about 100 species, the disease attacks amphibians’ sensitive skin.
Answering the Call
To help reverse the trend of amphibian extinction, an organization called Amphibian Ark developed an international initiative called Year of the Frog. Zoos and aquariums from all over the world, including the National Zoo, have joined the cause.
With decades of experience in science-based zoo-breeding programs for rare species, the Zoo is ready to take on a leadership role in the conservation of amphibians. “As leaders in wildlife conservation, animal husbandry, and education—in addition to having millions of people visit every year at the Zoo and through our website—we are committed to building a brighter future for our planet’s amphibians,” says National Zoo Director John Berry.
Knowledge Is Power
In an effort to increase public awareness of amphibians, scientists and educators at the Zoo are offering customized training courses for elementary, middle, and high school teachers. These workshops help educators learn how to teach students to identify and monitor amphibians on school grounds.
“Our amphibian programs take students beyond discovery and exploration,” says Jennifer Buff, education program manager at CRC. “They emphasize inventory and monitoring and provide educators with actual Smithsonian protocols to study amphibians.” For more information about the workshops, send an email to
crceducation@si.edu.
What You Can Do
If you’d like to get involved with the National Zoo’s amphibian conservation program, email Brian Gratwicke at
gratwickeb@si.edu. Be sure to help amphibians in your backyard, too. Set up a pond (without fish) or put out rocks and logs for frogs to hide under. Also, visit www.fonz.org/yearofthefrog.htm for more ideas and upcoming amphibian-related activities at the Zoo.
You can also be part of a citizen-science program called Frogwatch USA. Just go to 
www.nwf.org/frogwatchUSA and register a site you’d like to monitor. Whether you choose your backyard or a pond at a nearby park, you can report on the sounds and calls of amphibians in the area.
This article originally appeared in the summer 2008 issue of Wildlife Adventures.
