Jefferson Salamander Research Paper

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Pages: 3

In early spring shortly after the snow has melted, Jefferson salamanders, , emerge from the ground to begin to mate. Unlike other salamanders, these had already began their journey months before they are ready to breed, in what is known as a staging migration. Despite this, finding the perfect home, especially one to raise their young can be a challenge for these creatures.
Jefferson salamanders, shown in Figure 1, are a species of mole salamander found in the northeastern United States and southern parts of Canada. Here in Pennsylvania, the Jefferson salamander has a rather patchy distribution (Horne, Dunson, 1994). This is primarily believed to be a result of their high sensitivity to environmental factors such as temperature and to low pH. As a result, Jefferson salamanders are good bioindicators of environmentally stressful conditions.
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Preferentially, the salamanders avoid areas of high acidity in favor of less acidic habitats (Horne, Dunson, 1994). Despite spending a majority of their lives on land, Jefferson salamanders also go through an aquatic stage in life. In the aquatic developmental stages, pH can have a strong impact on Jefferson salamanders. For example, reproductive success, in terms of number of eggs masses laid, is positively correlated to pH (Horne, Dunson, 1994). Additionally, low pH also impacts the success of the offspring in both their embryonic and larval stages of life. However, due to this dual life as an aquatic and terrestrial organism, Jefferson salamanders have twice the risk of being exposed to environmental stresses. On land, the adult salamanders are face with dealing with soil pH levels (Horne, Dunson, 1994). In fact, when placed in situations of low pH, the salamanders quickly lose water and body