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The Salamander Whisperer

University of Miami researchers analyze how our changing climate is impacting reptiles, amphibians in the Everglades

By University of Miami

September 13^th, 2024

Just over an hour north of the University of Miami, graduate student Aidan O'Brien and a few other students from associate professor Christopher Searcy's Conservation Ecology Lab are studying how different water levels in the Florida Everglades can affect the reptile and amphibian communities living there. The students spend their day in the muddy waters and marshes collecting salamanders —specifically two-toed amphiumas and greater sirens—from traps, then return to the lab to gather and enter data on the salamanders before releasing them back into the wild.

They are conducting their research in the 80-acre Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment, an experimental area at the edge of the Everglades, just west of Boynton Beach, built and managed by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). This “living laboratory” is divided into four 20-acre “macrocosms” separated by levees––two of the areas are exposed to more restrictive water conditions; the other two follow more natural rainfall conditions.

With a grant from the Everglades Restoration license plate fund, Searcy’s lab has been examining the four areas annually for more than seven years, as part of SFWMD’s effort to improve water flow in the Everglades, which is mandated by the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The $23.2 billion federal plan aims to restore native wildlife and water quality to the Florida Everglades.

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

“The Everglades is a really important ecosystem. It’s massive; it’s one of our largest protected areas. And its home to some really unique wildlife that are currently threatened by a multitude of things from climate change to invasive species.”

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

The Salamander Whisperer

Footnotes

Design and photography by Joshua Prezant. Video by Franco LaTona.

FootNotes

Design and photography by Joshua Prezant. Video by Franco LaTona.

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