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Cheat Mountain Salamander Recovery Plan

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Cheat Mountain Salamander Recovery Plan CHEAT MOUNTAIN SALAMANDER (Plethodon neftiigi) RECOVERY PLAN Region Five U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service CHEAT MOUNTAIN SALAMANDER (Plethodon nettingi) RECOVERY PLAN Prepared by: Thomas K. Pauley Department of Biological Sciences Marshall University Huntington, WV 25755 for: Northeast Region U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Newton Corner, MA 02158 Approved: Regional Director, N east Regi U.S. Fish and WildV Service Date: * * * This recovery plan delineates reasonable actions needed to recover and/or protect the threatened Cheat Mountain Salamander. The plan does not necessarily represent the views or official position of any particular individuals or agencies involved in plan formulation, other than the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The proposals in this plan are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species status, and the completion of recovery tasks. Objectives will be attained and funds expended contingent upon appropriations, priorities, and other budgetary constraints. Literature citations should read as follows: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1991. Cheat Mountain Salamander Recovery Plan. Newton Corner, Massachusetts. 35 pp. Additional copies may be purchased from: Fish and Wildlife Reference Service 5430 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 110 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 301-492-6403 or 1-800-582-3421 Fees vary according to number of pages. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Cheat Mountain Salamander Recovery Plan Current Species Status: The Cheat Mountain salamander is currently known to exist at 68 sites within an approximately 700 square-mile area in West Virginia. Most of these populations are small, with less than ten salamanders observed. Although historical levels are not known, it is likely that the current population represents oniy a small portion of the species’ former distribution and population levels. Plethodon nettingi was listed as a threatened species on September 28, 1989. Habitat Requirements and Limitiur Factors: This small woodland salamander is found in red spruce and mixed deciduous forests above 2,980 feet in microhabitats that have relatively high humidity, moist soils, and cool temperatures. The Cheat Mountain salamander’s decline is attributed primarily to extensive loss of and changes to its habitat from colonial days to the present. Extant populations of the species are threatened by removal of the forest canopy and wildfires, as well as by roads and possibly trails which remove forest floor litter, thus affecting the salamander’s territory. Recovery Objective: To remove the Cheat Mountain salamander from the list of Federally endangered and threatened species. Recovery Criteria: The species can be delisted when: (a) monitoring of ten populations over a period of ten years shows them to be stable or expanding, (b) 100 populations distributed throughout its range are in protected ownership, (c) sufficient life history information exists to assure appropriate management as needed, and (d) monitoring and management programs are implemented on a continuing basis. Actions Needed 1. Population searches and monitoring 2. Delineation and protection of occupied habitat 3. Habitat characterization 4. Other ecological and life history studies 5. Long-term monitoring and management 6. Educational and informational program Estimated Costs of Recovery ($0O0’s’~ Need 1 Need 2 Need 3 Need 4 Need 5 Need 6 FYi 17 19 15 8 3 4 FY2 32 21 25 20 3 4 FY3 17 16 25 18 5 FY4-1O 60 64 20 10 TOTAL 126 120 85 46 21 8 Total Estimated Recovery Cost: $406,000 -- not including possible land acquisition costs, which are unknown at this time. Date of Recovery: If recovery task timetables are met, delisting should be possible in 2002. : TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I: INTRODUCTION • Description 1 Population Status and Distribution 2 Habitat 7 Life History 8 Factors Affecting the Cheat Mountain Salamander 9 Conservation Measures 12 Recovery Strategy 13 PART II: RECOVERY 15 Recovery Objective ... 15 Recovery Tasks 16 Literature Cited 25 Part III: IMPLEMENTATION 28 APPENDIX: Methodology for Salamander Surveys LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1. Distribution of Plethodon nettingi populations 3 Table 1. Elevation and number of Plethodon nettingi sites 5 Table 2. Potential Plethodon nettingi areas needing additional surveys 18 PART I: INTRODUCTION The Cheat Mountain salamander (Plethodon nettingi Green) was listed as a threatened species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on September 28, 1989 (Federal Register, Vol. 53, No. 188:37814-37818). This small woodland salamander was first observed on White Top Mountain in West Virginia in 1935 by M. Graham Netting and Leonard Llewellyn (Brooks 1965). Dr. N. Bayard Green (1938) then described the species from specimens taken at Barton Knob in Randolph County, West Virginia. Although Highton and Grobman (1956) considered the Cheat Mountain salamander a subspecies of the ravine salamander (P. richmondi), Highton and Larson (1979) subsequently conducted electrophoretic studies and assigned it full species status. Description Plethodon nettingi reaches a maximum length of 4.0 inches (Conant 1975) and has 17-19 costal grooves (Highton 1971). Th’~ dorsal color is blackish, usually with brassy or white flecks. The venter is Tmly dark gray to black. Similar Species: Three salamander species found within its range bear some morphological resemblance to the Cheat Mountain salamander: the redback salamander (P. cinereus), Wehrle’s salamander (P. wehrlei), and the mountain dusky salamander (Desmognathus ochrophaeus). Of these, only the redback salamander and 1 mountain dusky salamander have been found to be associated with the Cheat Mountain salamander in all known populations (Pauley 1980). While typical specimens of each species are fairly easy to distinguish, there are phase and size variations that can be confusing, including the leadback phase of the redback salamander, and dark phases of the mountain dusky salamander and small Wehrle’s salamanders. The leadback phase of the redback salamander can be distinguished from the Cheat Mountain salamander by a mottled (salt and pepper) venter as opposed to the dark gray venter of the latter species. The mountain dusky salamander has a chunkier body, larger hind legs relative to the front, a white line or spot between the eyes and angle of the jaws, and 14 costal grooves. Juvenile Wehrle’s salamanders differ from the Cheat Mountain salamander by the presence of small orange spots on the dorsum, white spots along their sides, and a whitish chin and throat. Species outside but near the range of the Cheat Mountain salamander similar in appearance include the valley and ridge salamander (P. hoffinani) and the ravine salamander (P. richmondi). Both species have a longer tail (i.e., longer than the body) than P. nettingi and more costal grooves (19-22). Population Status and Distribution The current known range of the Cheat Mountain salamander is a 696 m12 area falling entirely within West Virginia (Figure 1). The northernmost population was discovered in Blackwater Falls State Park (Tucker County) during 1989 field surveys (Pauley unpubi. data). The most southern extant population known is a small population found west of Bald Knob at the headwaters of Oats Run in Pocahontas County. 2 Co. A A AA ~ stK A 4 A’ 7 A V A ‘AA A Webster C~. Pocahontas Co. Co. Plethodon nettinpi populations StK (Stuart Knob) DS (Dolly Sods) GK (Gaudineer Knob) SpK (Spruce Knob) Figure 1. Distribution of Plethodon nettingi populations 3 Surveys conducted over the years have resulted in expansion of the known range since Brooks (1948) originally described it as an area extending from the headwaters of Condon Run in Randolph County south to Thorny Flat in Pocahontas County. Highton (1971) found that the salamander’s range extended to the higher elevations of the Allegheny Front in Tucker County, and Pauley (1981) described the range as extending east of McGowan Mountain (Randolph County) to Dolly Sods (Tucker County), south to Spruce Knob (Pendleton and Pocahontas Counties), southwest to Thorny Flat (Pocahontas County), and north to Barton Knob (Randolph County). Prior to the 1989 surveys, a population found on Backbone Mountain just north of Blackwater Canyon in Tucker County extended the range northward by 3.9 miles (Pauley 1987). Despite this apparent expansion, the known range probably represents only a small portion of the historical distribution of the Cheat Mountain salamander. Vast acreages of forested salamander habitat have been cut and burned since the settlement of West Virginia began, as described in Factors Affecting the Cheat Mountain Salamander. During surveys conducted in 1980 and 1989, two known historical populations (Bald Knob and Thorny Flat) were found to be extirpated; these populations may have been destroyed by timbering activities. A third population located on Shavers Mountain east of Yokum Run was destroyed by the development of a deep coal mine in 1981 (Pauley unpubl. data). To date, surveys have been conducted at 499 sites within the known range of the Cheat Mountain salamander. P. nettingi has been found in 68 sites (Table 1; Pauley unpubl. data), but other populations probably exist. Sixty (88.2%) of the known populations occur on U.S. Forest Service lands (Monongahela National Forest), three (4.4 %) occur within West Virginia state parks, and five (7.3%) 4 Table 1. Elevation and number of Plethodon nettingi sites. Sites are listed from north to south. Site Location Elevation Ranges Site Location Number of Sites (Quadrangle) (County) (in Feet) Blackwater Falls Tucker 3,980 - 4,100 2 Blackbird Knob Tucker 3,840 - 4,140 1 Parsons Tucker 3,728 1 Mozark Tucker 2,980 - 3,843 4 Mountain Bowden Randolph 3,450 - 3,920 12 Harman Randolph 4,430 1 Laneville Tucker/ 4,080 - 4,770 1 Randolph Hopeville Pendleton 3,780 - 4,020 6 Beverly East Randolph 3,600 - 3,955 9 Whitmer Randolph 4,445 1 Widell Randolph/ 3,680 - 4,069 14 Pocahontas Sinks of Gandy Randolph 4,675 1 Spruce Knob Pendleton 4,800 - 4,200 4 Snyder Knob Randolph/ 4,434 - 4,640 3 Pocahontas Durbin Randolph 4,200 - 4,520 3 Cass Pocahontas 3,960 - 4,747 5 occur on private lands.
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