Displaying items by tag: rh whittaker
From soil to sky: Will the misty microclimates of the Smokies prevail in a warming world?
Foundational ecology moves from before times to nowadays in the Smokies
GATLINBURG — In the Middle Ages, salamanders were thought to come from fire. A log set on the hearth would send them scurrying out of the rotten wood, startling those who had gathered around for warmth. We now know that salamanders, of course, come from water — even the European fire salamander with its flame-like yellow markings.
Over the last 20 years of getting my boots soggy in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, I know these creatures to thrive in the clean, shallow streams and trickles of this temperate rainforest, where annual precipitation is higher than anywhere in the U.S. save for the Pacific Northwest.
One way to become acquainted with the park is through the water that veins through the hills and is transmuted into vapor that floats on the air in misty silence. After a rain, you can slake your thirst from the pools formed in the creases of broad rhododendron leaves. Sit by a shallow, fishless stream for long enough and you might spot the quick movement of a salamander tail, maybe a flash of orange or brown, or notice a tiny black amphibian face peeking out from behind a smooth stone in the creek.
- jordan stark
- european fire salamander
- southern appalachian soil monitoring
- great smoky mountains national park
- soil monitoring in smokies
- smokies soil study
- elan young
- jason fridley clemson
- macroscale
- microscale ecology
- rh whittaker
- shaconage
- smoky mountain salamander
- salamander biodiversity
- clemson department of biological sciences