Animal
Redback salamander
Plethodon cinereus
Also known as: Eastern redback salamander
A small (3–4 inch) terrestrial salamander — the most-abundant vertebrate by biomass in many eastern hardwood forests, often outnumbering all birds and mammals combined per acre. Lungless; breathes through skin. Common in the Staten Island Greenbelt's forest litter, often found by lifting fallen logs or rocks. The borough's most-numerous native salamander.
Scientific
Plethodon cinereus is a 3–4 inch lungless salamander (family Plethodontidae). Two color morphs: redback (dark with a red-or-orange dorsal stripe) and leadback (uniformly dark grey-black). Both morphs occur in the same populations.
Direct development — eggs laid in moist substrate (rotting wood, under rocks) hatch into miniature adults rather than aquatic larvae. The species does not require standing water at any life stage, which lets it occupy intact forest floor far from wetlands.
Studies of forest biomass have repeatedly shown that redback salamanders are the most-abundant vertebrate by biomass in eastern hardwood forests — sometimes more biomass per acre than all birds and small mammals combined.
On Staten Island
Common in the Greenbelt’s forest floor — under fallen logs, rocks, leaf litter. Sensitive to forest disturbance and drought; populations track forest-floor moisture and downed-wood availability. The species is a useful indicator of forest health: intact, undisturbed, well-littered forests support higher densities than degraded ones.
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Substrate of: [[staten-island-greenbelt-conservancy]]
- Member of: [[animal]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- [[beacon-ny|New York]] State DEC amphibian species records
- USGS Amphibian Research and Monitoring Initiative documentation
- Long-term forest-biomass salamander research (Burton and Likens 1975 and subsequent)
Rooted in life.
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