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The use of nest boxes by the hellbender salamander in Western North Carolina
The hellbender salamander (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis) is a unique, large-bodied amphibian that serves as an excellent water quality indicator species in Western North Carolina. This animal has suffered substantial population declines over the past four decades throughout its range. Increased stream siltation largely attributed to human development fills the concave undersides of large rocks, consequently destroying hellbender breeding habitat. Habitat degradation has contributed to reductions in North Carolinian populations to such a degree that the species is now considered of Special Concern in the state. In order to restore hellbender population sizes under current land use conditions, researchers have recently begun developing artificial nest boxes that exclude sediment and promote increased reproduction. To identify the short-term efficacy of these shelters as substitutes for natural hellbender habitat in Western North Carolina, I constructed and placed 54 boxes across five river sites throughout the region. Following summer nest box installment, I examined each shelter through the breeding season for hellbender in habitation and to determine the quality of water passing through the structures. Additionally, I created a maximum entropy species distribution model and conducted a spatial connectivity analysis for the hellbenders of Western North Carolina to identify ideal locations for nest boxes installation in the future. Although no hellbenders have yet been detected in the artificial shelters, additional structural improvements and time may reveal nest boxes to be useful conservation tools for this iconic species of Special Concern.
Evaluating artificial shelter arrays as a minimally invasive monitoring tool for the hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis)
Hellbenders Cryptobranchus alleganiensis are critically imperiled amphibians throughout the eastern USA. Rock-lifting is widely used to monitor hellbenders but can severely disturb habitat. We asked whether artificial shelter occupancy (the proportion of occupied shelters in an array) would function as a proxy for hellbender abundance and there by serve as a viable alternative to rock-lifting. We hypothesized that shelter occupancy would vary spatially in response to hellbender density, natural shelter density, or both, and would vary temporally with hellbender seasonal activity patterns and time since shelter deployment. We established shelter arrays (n = 30 shelters each) in 6 stream reaches and monitored them monthly for up to 2 yr. We used Bayesian mixed logistic regression and model ranking criteria to assess support for hypotheses concerning drivers of shelter occupancy. In all reaches, shelter occupancy was highest from June–August each year and was higher in Year 2 relative to Year 1. Our best-supported model indicated that the extent of boulder and bedrock (hereafter, natural shelter) in a reach mediated the relationship between hellbender abundance and shelter occupancy. More explicitly, shelter occupancy was positively correlated with abundance when natural shelter covered <20% of a reach, but uncorrelated with abundance when natural shelter was more abundant. While shelter occupancy should not be used to infer variation in hellbender relative abundance when substrate composition varies among reaches, we showed that artificial shelters can function as valuable monitoring tools when reaches meet certain criteria, though regular shelter maintenance is critical.
Improving the Utility of Artificial Shelters for Monitoring Eastern Hellbender Salamanders (Cryptobranchus alleganienses alleganiensis)
Artificial shelters show great promise as novel, non-invasive tools for studying hellbenders, but their use thus far has faced several challenges. During initial trials in multiple river networks, artificial shelters routinely became blocked by sediment and dislodged during high stream discharge events, and were rarely used by hellbenders. We sought to determine whether these complications could be overcome via alternative shelter design, placement, and maintenance. Between 2013 and 2018, we deployed 438 artificial shelters of two different designs across ten stream reaches and three rivers in the upper Tennessee River Basin. We assessed evidence for several hypotheses, postulating broadly that the availability, stability, and use of artificial shelters by hellbenders would depend on how shelters were constructed, deployed, and/or maintained. We found that maintaining shelters at least once every 40 days limited sediment blockage, and building ~ 40 kg shelters with 3-4 cm thick walls and recessed lids improved their stability during high discharge events. Additionally, we found that hellbenders most frequently occupied and nested in artificial shelters when they were deployed in deeper (~50+ cm) portions of reaches with high adult hellbender densities. Our results suggest that artificial shelters can serve as effective tools for studying hellbenders when designed, deployed, and maintained with these advancements, but also highlight some limitations of their use.
Learn All About Hellbenders and Take a Tour
Do you know what a hellbender is or where they can be found? This live session will answer those questions for you, show you what they look like by taking you on a virtual tour, share where they live, what they like to eat and who their predators are.
10,000th Hellbender Released Into the Wild
HELLBENDER HISTORY -- the 10,000th hellbender was recently released into an Ozark river in an effort to support a declining population for the endangered species. The Saint Louis Zoo, MDC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have partnered together for nearly 20 years during this effort. Learn more in this short video.
The Last Dragons - Protecting Appalachia's Hellbenders
An intimate glimpse at North America's Eastern Hellbender, an ancient salamander that lives as much in myth as in reality.... and in many waters, myths are all that remain of these sentinel stream-dwellers. Video by Freshwaters Illustrated.
American Black Duck Decision Support Tool
The Atlantic Coast Joint Venture Black Duck Decision Support Tool (DST) helps to identify the exact number of acres to protect, restore or maintain at the small watershed scale. Through this tool, land managers can determine the best way to contribute to achieving black duck goals anywhere on the landscape.
Ducks Unlimited
Ducks Unlimited is the world's leader in wetlands and waterfowl conservation.
Black Duck Joint Venture
The Black Duck Joint Venture is a North American Waterfowl Management Plan Conservation Partnership
American Black Duck Image
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Virginia 644: Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management
This practice is supplemented with other wetland standards to provide financial assistance in the management of a wetland for wildlife habitat.
Maryland 644: Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management
This practice is supplemented with other wetland standards to provide financial assistance in the management of a wetland for wildlife habitat.
Maryland 315: Herbaceous Weed Treatment
This standard allows for the removal or control of herbaceous weeds including invasive, noxious, and prohibited plants. This practice is applicable for areas that have excessive Phragmites australis growth allowing for removal and management of these areas to let native plants to reestablish.
Maryland 327: Conservation Cover
This standard is utilized for establishing vegetative cover to enhance wildlife habitat.
Maryland 658: Wetland Creation
This practice is utilized when building a wetland in an area that was not historically a wetland. If a site has non-hydric soils, this practice is used in the creation of wetland features including shallow water wetlands for waterfowl.
Maryland 646: Shallow Water Development and Management
This practice is supplemented in the creation of a shallow water area for waterfowl.
Maryland 645: Upland Wildlife Habitat Management
This practice consists of the management of food, cover, and shelter for wildlife which can be utilized for waterfowl nesting habitat.
Delaware 646: Shallow Water Development and Mangement
This practice is supplemented in the creation of a shallow water impoundment for waterfowl.
Delaware 645: Upland Wildlife Habitat Management
This practice consists of the management of food, cover, and shelter for wildlife which can be utilized for waterfowl nesting habitat.
Delaware 327: Conservation Cover
This standard is utilized for establishing vegetative cover to enhance wildlife habitat.