What We Know–and Don’t–About Helene’s Impacts on Reptiles and Amphibians

Millions of people across the Southeastern US are coming together to begin to overcome the impacts of Helene.
And it’s this joining of forces that’s going to be critical for our recovery. No one can do it alone. The uniting of communities and collaboration among government agencies, nonprofits, and other groups are going to be imperative to start healing from the damages that we’ve sustained, both in terms of human losses and also the casualties of our wildlife and wild places.

Uncovering the Secrets of One of the Most Elusive Snakes in the Eastern US

How do you study an uncommon, secretive snake that spends most of its time underground and tends to flee when approached?

Northern pinesnakes are a rarely encountered species in the South Carolina Lowcountry, the location of the Francis Marion PARCA, or Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area. These beautiful snakes with dark blotches scattered along their backs and sides not only inhabit this PARCA; they’re native to several Eastern US states.

Safeguarding a New Yet Age-Old Salamander Species

Recently, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced some good news: The Hickory Nut Gorge green salamander (Aneides caryaensis) is under consideration for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Protecting Alabama’s Ancient Wild Legacy in the Bankhead PARCA

In the Bankhead PARCA (Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area) of Alabama, about an hour northwest of Birmingham, two incredibly specialized species share the region’s numerous aquatic habitats: the flattened musk turtle and the Black Warrior waterdog. These two highly endangered

Gopher Frog Recovery: At the Edge of a Precipice

On a hot summer afternoon in the Francis Marion Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area (PARCA), Coastal Plains Program Coordinator Ben Morrison and Assistant Field Project Manager Sydney Sheedy drive down a bumpy dirt road surrounded by longleaf pine trees. They’re heading to Sunset Pond, a not-even-on-the-map ephemeral wetland that represents one of the last healthy few of its kind in the forest, unchoked by invasive species and still reliably filling with water for part of the year.

Bounty of Habitats for Rare Species: Protecting & Restoring the Francis Marion PARCA

Bounty of Habitats for Rare Species: Protecting & Restoring the Francis Marion PARCA Outside Charleston, South Carolina stretches the Francis Marion National Forest–a 259,000-acre classic Lowcountry spread of upland forest, bottomland hardwood swamp, maritime forest, salt marsh, and longleaf pine forest.

Recovering the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander

Longleaf pine ecosystems once blanketed the Southeast, covering over ninety million acres from Texas to Virginia. Many varied species, from red-cockaded woodpeckers and quail to eastern diamondback rattlesnakes and dusky gopher frogs, evolved to live among the frequently burning, grassy, sun-soaked savannas.

Crown Jewel of Louisiana’s Biodiversity: Conservation of the Pearl River Basin PARCA

Just east of New Orleans, there’s a diversity of reptiles and amphibians that are as wild and colorful as Mardi Gras. The animal that comes to mind for most people when they think of Louisiana is the American alligator—and while there are certainly alligators, there are also some 140 species of other amazing amphibians and reptiles that call the state home, from diamondback terrapins to Gulf Coast waterdogs to pine snakes and gopher tortoises. Unfortunately, 51 of those are listed as species of greatest conservation need.

The Pearl River Basin PARCA, or Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area, is the crown jewel of Louisiana; it holds 109 amphibian and reptile species and 98% of the species of greatest conservation need in the state. That makes our work here—from the dark and primordial bottomland hardwoods swamps to the open pineland savannahs—vital.

Combating Invasives to Give Native Species Back Their Competitive Edge

When you visit a new country, chances are you don’t want to eat at the same burger chain you have near your house, buy your souvenirs at a big box store from the US, and go to an American movie. You want to experience the cuisine, hear the language, and see the art that that particular country offers because those things reveal the fabric of a place’s history and culture.

We can use this concept to understand native ecosystems and invasive species. Just like you can find American burger chains around the world, there aren’t many ecosystems left that haven’t been impacted by invasive species. As humans have spread across the globe, we’ve taken all sorts of species with us—from house cats to flowers to reptiles—and put them where they didn’t historically occur. That has caused problems for our native species (the locals, if you will), and we are at risk of homogenizing our ecosystems and losing the icons of our natural diversity.

Protecting Our Natural Heritage in the Southern Appalachians

Author Barbara Kingsolver best captured the spirit of the Southern Appalachians when she said, “the flag of Appalachia should be a salamander.” For many, these mountains are embodied by a cool mountain creek, where every rock flip reveals a salamander. In fact, the Southern Appalachian Mountains—including parts of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia—contain some of the most important places for amphibian and reptile conservation in the world. Within the ridges, valleys, and streams are dozens of habitat types supporting a vast number of imperiled species that need our help, from our smallest turtle to the heaviest salamander in North America.

Black Warrior Waterdog and Flattened Musk Turtle

Meet two of Alabama’s strangest, most specialized reptiles and amphibians.

In the Black Warrior River watershed of Alabama, two rare, mysterious, and little-known species swim the waters. One, the Black Warrior waterdog, is an amphibian, and the other, the flattened musk turtle, is a reptile. Both are highly endangered, and both are tailor-made for the habitat that they share, making our work in the Bankhead Priority Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Area (PARCA) west of Birmingham a two-for-one conservation opportunity. This PARCA is positively teeming with life; Alabama is a global hotspot of aquatic biodiversity. By restoring these imperiled and highly biodiverse waterways, we can recover these two amazing species, protect countless other species, and create healthier water for the people who depend on these rivers for consumption and recreation.

Small Turtles, Big Future: Southern Population of the Bog Turtle

When we think about the future for the bog turtle, Glyptemys muhlenbergii, we should first consider the past. If we could hit rewind, and look back in time—millions of years back in time—there would be a vast stretch of land full of muddy bogs and fens, from upstate New York down to Georgia. Within those grassy, flooded meadows fed by springs would have hidden thousands upon thousands of one of our favorite reptiles in the world: the bog turtle.

When they are born, bog turtles are the size of a quarter. As adults, they’re only four inches. They are mysterious and secretive, spending most of their time buried in mud. Everything about them encapsulates a slow and steady approach to life; they reach sexual maturity late, lay only a few eggs a year, and can live for at least sixty years. Some of the older individuals have shells as smooth as glass, worn down from years of burrowing in the habitat for which evolution shaped them over the course of fifteen million years.