Hickory Nut Gorge salamanders considered for endangered species list
The Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander, found only in its namesake gorge southeast of Asheville, N.C., is being considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. With total population numbers in the low hundreds, scientists say these animals are in urgent need of protection.
The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned to list the Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander under the Endangered Species Act in June 2022. On Jan. 24, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued 90day findings stating that it will launch a formal species status assessment in order to discern over the next 12 months whether the salamanders warrant protection.
“There’s a lot of development encroaching upon their habitat — Lake Lure and that whole gorge are rapidly developing, and Highway 74 goes directly through their critical habitat,” said Will Harlan, the center’s Southeast director and senior scientist.
Harlan told the Citizen Times that Southern Appalachia, which he called “the salamander capital of the world,” is home to more species of salamanders than any other region on the planet. According to Harlan, the micro-endemic Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander could die out without urgent protection.
If the Fish and Wildlife Service decides the species warrants protection, Harlan says rulings will likely include an expanded habitat for the salamanders with restrictions in these areas on environmentally harmful processes like construction. As habitat loss poses the most serious risk to the salamanders’ numbers, additional habitat and added guidelines around development could allow the species to gradually recover.
“It’s not just keeping these last little scraps for them because frankly, with only a couple hundred, that’s not enough genetic and geographic diversity for them to persist long term,” Harlan said. “We’ll need to expand their range from what it is currently if they have any chance of survival.”
Found only in Hickory Nut Gorge, a 14-mile-long gorge in the Blue Ridge Mountains roughly 18 miles from Asheville, these salamanders were originally discovered to be an individual species by conservation biologist JJ Apodaca, executive director of the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy
Apodaca old the Citizen Times that as his team sequenced the genetics of N.C. salamanders, they quickly noticed huge genetic differences in specimens from the Hickory Nut Gorge area.
“The further we looked into it, we discovered that the ones nearby aren’t even really the closest relative of the Hickory Nut Gorge,” Apodaca said. “So even though they’re separated from the other species by only about 20 miles, it’s really distinct and has been for we estimate 10 to 12 million years.”
Apodaca and his Asheville-based organization Tangled Bank Conservation were recently awarded a $100,000 Theodore Roosevelt Genius Prize for genetic sequencing techniques developed to combat poaching of some of the most trafficked turtle species in the world — three of which are found in North Carolina. He told the Citizen Times that, along with turtles, salamanders are the most threatened vertebrates in the world. He said the animals simply aren’t well suited to adapt to environmental changes caused by humans.
“For us here in the Southern Appalachians, that’s really important,” Apodaca said. “We’re the world’s center of salamander diversity, so roughly a fifth of all salamander species are found within 100 or so miles of here.”
During the 12-month wait as Hickory Nut Gorge green salamanders are considered for protection, Harlan said the best way for N.C. residents to help is simply to learn, care and take pride in the region’s famous biodiversity. And beyond the inherent value he sees in helping at-risk species survive and recover, Harlan says residents should keep one important factor in mind.
“People flock to this region because of its beauty and biodiversity,” Harlan said. “And we want to make sure that those values and those landscapes remain intact for people to continue loving this region and ensuring that scenic and natural diversity persists. And this is why the salamander is important. You can protect the Hickory Nut Gorge and ensure that it’s a place of beauty and biodiversity, and not an overrun tourist trap that’s overdeveloped.”