Watershed Moment for Survival of Imperiled Appalachian Salamanders

William Hopkins and Erin Hotchkiss are creating a watershed moment for the conservation of the eastern hellbender salamander in Virginia.

In partnership with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, their $2 million award is one of 10 research projects funded by the Partnership to Advance Conservation Science and Practice program , a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Through their efforts, the Virginia Tech researchers have observed that accelerating climate and land use changes are creating critical low-oxygen “hot spots” in Appalachian streams, threatening the survival of vulnerable species. Eastern hellbenders, which require well-oxygenated environments for survival and reproduction, are a sentinel species for studying this issue.

The award will fuel the researchers’ mission to solve the decades-long mystery of why hellbenders and other sensitive freshwater fauna are disappearing as well as to help organizations better prepare for future environmental changes.

“The fundamental knowledge these projects create, even though related to specific species, will unlock innovative conservation efforts across a broader range of threatened species and ecosystems,” Lara Littlefield, executive director for programs and partnerships at the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, said in a media release issued from the two foundations.

Hopkins, professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and director of the Global Change Center , has studied the hellbender in ice-cold Southwest Virginia streams for nearly two decades. He and his team have determined that in deforested areas, hellbender fathers are far more likely to eat their entire brood than in areas that still have lush foliage.

The common thought is that this behavior, known as filial cannibalism, probably evolved as a survival tactic for enduring harsh conditions. But prior to Hopkins’ results, scientists were not aware that hellbenders’ cannibalistic behavior drastically increased in cleared lands, actively forcing the species out of existence.

According to Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources State Herpetologist John “J.D.” Kleopfer, this breakthrough provided the information needed to design evidence-based conservation actions, like those described in the project proposal.

“This work will be a continuation of a 17-year-plus collaboration between Dr. Hopkins and our agency,” Kleopfer said.

Citing it as a “major win” for the conservation of this species in Virginia, Kleopfer said the award exemplifies the importance of developing long-term conservation partnerships between conservation organizations and researchers at universities. He credited the combination of long-term data, the elaborate network of artificial nests across a land-use gradient, and the high-functioning captive rearing facility at Virginia Tech as well as Hopkins’ experience successfully working with the species, government agencies, and landowners.

“There is no other state in the species’ 15-state range that is better positioned to execute the work described in the proposal,” Kleopfer said.

Hotchkiss, associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and a faculty affiliate of the Global Change Center , brings an ecosystem focus to the project. Specifically, she brings expertise in assessing river ecosystem health through high-frequency sensor measurements of dissolved oxygen, temperature, and other water quality parameters.

“Dissolved oxygen concentrations are decreasing in aquatic ecosystems globally, with predicted future declines due to increasing temperatures, changing precipitation patterns, and landscape alterations that increase pollution inputs to waterways,” Hotchkiss said.

Ecosystem ecologists have learned a lot about the connections between river oxygen dynamics, biology, and environmental change over the past decade, Hotchkiss said. But they rarely pair high-frequency measurements of oxygen at the sediment-water interface — a critical habitat for many freshwater organisms — with more typical measurements in the upper water column, she said.

“We’re missing key information about the environmental conditions experienced by many organisms,” Hotchkiss said. “I’m excited for this opportunity to link often-siloed fields of ecosystem ecology and organismal biology, test a predicted cause of paternal cannibalism in eastern hellbenders, and contribute to biodiversity conservation more broadly.”

The research team will deploy new underwater video technology and high-frequency environmental sensors in artificial nesting habitats that will link bacterial activity, water quality, and oxygen levels to hellbender behavior, cannibalism, and nesting success.

By building a mechanistic understanding of dissolved oxygen dynamics within and among hellbender nests and experimentally increasing oxygen in nests with a high probability of cannibalism, the researchers will be able to link hellbender nest success with environmental and experimental measurements. This positions the team to solve a 50-year conservation mystery and place their findings in the context of future climate change predictions.

In turn, these findings will guide conservation actions in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources. This includes the rearing and releasing of thousands of hellbender hatchlings to prevent population declines and preserve genetic diversity as well as providing a quantitative assessment to inform future statewide conservation plans.

Another positive outcome includes engaging underserved Appalachian communities through educational events and community engagement. The team will recruit first-generation undergraduates from Appalachia to collaborate on research and conservation efforts while also supporting the professional development of graduate students and research associates involved with the project.

“We are incredibly grateful to have the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources as partners on this ambitious project, and for the support of this innovative funding initiative to achieve our vision,” Hopkins said. “Through this unique collaboration and funding opportunity, we are well-positioned to make discoveries that will fundamentally advance our understanding of insidious effects of climate change on freshwater systems, and as a result—benefit biodiversity in Appalachia, one of the most biodiverse temperate ecosystems on the planet.”

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