Animal
Spotted salamander
Ambystoma maculatum
A medium-sized (6–9 inch) black salamander with two rows of bright yellow or orange spots — and one of the most-vernal-pool-dependent species in eastern North America. Adults spend most of the year underground in burrows; on a few rainy spring nights, the entire population migrates to ancestral vernal pools to breed. The Greenbelt's interior vernal-pool network supports breeding populations on Staten Island.
Scientific
Ambystoma maculatum is a 6–9 inch mole salamander (family Ambystomatidae). Adults live in upland forest burrows for most of the year; come to the surface only during spring breeding migrations on warm rainy nights. Females lay gelatinous egg masses (typically symbiotic with green algae that provide oxygen to the developing embryos) in fishless vernal pools. Larvae develop over 2–4 months before metamorphosing.
Vernal-pool dependence is strict. The species needs both the seasonal pools (for breeding) and intact surrounding upland forest (for adult life). Habitat loss, road mortality on migration nights, and pool destruction or degradation are the principal threats.
On Staten Island
The Greenbelt’s interior vernal-pool network supports breeding populations. Adults migrate to pools on warm rainy nights in March or April. Egg masses visible in pools through May; larvae through June–July.
The species is a sensitive indicator of forest-and-pool ecosystem health. Long-term Greenbelt monitoring of vernal-pool species would be one of the more-meaningful ecological projects 0mn1.one could partner on with [[staten-island-greenbelt-conservancy|Greenbelt Conservancy]].
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]]
- Counterpart to: [[spring-peeper]]
- Member of: [[animal]]
- Contained by: [[staten-island]]
Sources
- [[beacon-ny|New York]] State DEC amphibian species records
- [[beacon-ny|New York]] Natural Heritage Program vernal-pool species documentation
Rooted in life.
What links here, and how
Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.
Scientific
counterpart to
- Wood frog both are obligate vernal-pool breeders that depend on Greenbelt's seasonal-pool network
1 inbound link · 4 outbound