Scroll down for more information about salamander basics and ongoing projects at NMU with salamanders!

Since 2020, the Leonard lab has been working in partnership with the Superior Watershed Partnership and the City of Marquette on a conservation project to protect blue spotted salamanders at Presque Isle Park in Marquette. The project started with the realization that large numbers of salamanders were being killed by cars during their reproductive migration when they crossed Peter White Drive on their way to their spawning pools. With the establishment of the road closure (from mid March through April, at night only), the salamanders were no longer at risk from car strikes, but they became the subject of ecotourism! We began our work of organizing NMU student to serve as Salamander Stewards as a way to help the public understand how to appropriately observe the salamanders during the migration. We also established "Team Sallie", a large group of volunteer students who count the salamanders with the goal of characterizing the migration patterns at this site. From mid-March to the beginning of May, students are working at the site to determine migratory timing and other ecological patterns in these animals.

Graduate Student Katie VanHise is studying the winter ecology of blue-spotted salamanders. Since they live underground (other than during their breeding migration), not much is known about their lives outside of breeding season. There is very little known about how they survive winter despite the fact they live in regions with harsh winters. Unlike some other amphibians that can survive the winter by freezing and thawing out in spring, blue-spotted salamanders can not survive freezing. Katie's research focuses on discovering how they survive the winter without freezing. She hypothesizes that they survive by hiding in other animals' abandoned burrows and staying beneath the frost line. To test this, she is housing salamanders that are equipped with tracking tags in underground enclosures and tracking their movements. So far, she has found that the salamanders are going as deep underground as five feet and are staying active throughout the winter. She has also found that blue spotted-Jefferson salamander hybrids do not go as deep as the non-hybrid salamanders. Stay tuned for more on this project as there will be a second field season in winter 25-26!

Photos:
Upper: Salamander released into the top of the underground housing unit, before the lid was put in place in Oct 2024

Lower: Katie using her stick PIT/RFID antenna to locate the tagged salamanders in the housing units.

Undergraduate student Anna Hill has been researching how artificial light, such as street lamps and flashlights, affects blue-spotted salamanders. There haven't been many studies on how artificial light impacts amphibians. Since these salamanders spend most of their time underground and migrate at night, they aren't used to encountering light. Anna has been investigating how the salamanders react to different light intensities and has tested color filters on flashlights to reduce disturbance. So far, she’s discovered that while the salamanders don’t choose to be in direct light, they are able to tolerate it! Her work suggests that blue filters may be somewhat less disturbing than uncovered white light. 

In addition to her work on light effects, Anna has been involved with the Presque Isle Salamanders since 2022 when she joined the lab as a Freshman Fellow and made starting the Salamander Project her FF project. She has helped design the broader data collection on that project and has served as a student leader for three years, spearheading the development of our work on salamanders.

Photos:
Upper: Anna at the Presque Isle migration site collecting animals to be brought back to the lab for study.

Lower: Schematic of the light choice chamber

Undergraduate students Abby Spegel and Jackie Westren have developed a photography device designed to capture images of both the dorsal and ventral sides of blue-spotted salamanders. The device is used during the annual blue-spotted salamander migration to photograph individuals as they travel to their breeding grounds. The goal is to build a large, high-quality image dataset that can support future research on this understudied species. Despite their ecological importance, much about blue-spotted salamanders remains unknown. We are particularly interested in being able to study the timing of migration by different sexes and genetic morphs, but this is challenging to do in the field on rainy, cold nights. By analyzing the images collected through this project, we hope to begin answering fundamental questions like this and deepen our understanding of the species. 

Undergraduate student Massimo Gulino is studying the behavioral ecology of blue-spotted salamanders. Being a fossorial species, not much is known about their actual burrowing abilities. and whether they are soil generalists or limited by soil types. Massimo's research focuses on if they make choices when it comes to soil types, and if there is more burrowing behavior when exposed to daylight. He hypothesizes that exposing the salamanders to light as opposed to 24hour darkness will increase their soil selection and burrowing frequency. The initial data acquired suggests that blue spotted salamanders burrow more when exposed to light, and make more detectible soil choices when faced with light. Stay tuned for research focusing on habitat selection and cohabitation.

Photos:
Upper: Salamander in its substrate choice chamber
Lower: Massimo presenting to the NMU Board during a visit to the salamanders