Springtime Salamanders

The mountains are finally warming up, and the forests are starting to come alive with some of our favorite critters! Salamanders have long been a staple species for us here at the Blue Ridge Discovery Center and have been a fan favorite for decades at the Mount Rogers Naturalist Rallies. Since we’re getting into our peak season for these beautiful creatures, we’ll be sharing some fun facts about the ecological importance of salamanders as well as highlighting some of our favorite species along the way. 

With over 75 distinct species, the Southern Appalachian Mountains hold the highest species diversity of salamanders in the world! This is due to the wide variety of ecosystems in these mountains and the uniquely fragmented habitats found throughout this region. Deep dark caves, roaring rivers, seasonal wetlands, and high mountain peaks, are just a few of the habitats that these stunning salamanders call home. 

Within these habitats, you can find several families of salamanders. The most abundant of these are the Lungless Salamanders (Plethodontidae), this family includes the majority of our local salamanders including Duskies (Desmognathus), Slimy/Mountain Salamanders (Plethodon), and Brook Salamanders (Eurycea). However, not all of our local species are lungless, with the primary exceptions being Mole Salamanders (Ambystomatidae), Newts (Salamandridae), and the mighty Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchidae).

Each of these families has unique traits and adaptations that they use to thrive in the habitats that they belong to, so stick around while we dive into some fun facts about some of these wonderful species!

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As seen on our logo here at BRDC, the Blue Ridged Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea Wilderae) acts as our rad representative across all of our branding and is a classic species in this region. As a member of the Brook Salamander family, these semiaquatic sallies spend most of their lives within several hundred feet of the cold streams they grew up in. After hatching from eggs, these salamanders spend the first 1-2 years of their lives as aquatic larvae in cold mountain streams. After their time as a larva is complete, they metamorphosize and journey onto land where they’ll spend the rest of their adult life searching for food, shelter, and moisture!

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The White-spotted Slimy Salamander (Plethodon Cylindraceus) is one of the largest terrestrial salamanders that is commonly found in our region. These forest dwellers lack any larval or aquatic stage, hatching directly into their juvenile form. These black or dark blue individuals have white spots across their backs and towards their belly that resemble stars in the night sky. The slimy salamander complex gets its name from the glue-like secretion that these species release when threatened, which is its primary defense from any would-be predators. Most slimy salamanders never venture more than 30-40 feet from their hatching site, meaning they are both fierce protectors of their territory as well as opportunistic feeders that will prey on anything within their home range, including other members of their own species! 

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One of the most recognizable salamanders found in the southeast, the Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus Viridescens) is well known for its bright colors and its relaxed temperament. Their vibrant colors not only make them easy to find, but also warns predators of the toxicity that these salamanders utilize as their main defense mechanism. These famous critters are quite unique in that they are triphasic, meaning they have three distinct phases in life. The first phase is their larval stage, where they live in ponds, vernal pools, wetlands, and slow moving streams. After this they metamorphosize into their juvenile stage. It’s in this stage where they live terrestrially, turn to their classic bright orange or red and take on a new name as an eft. Their third and final stage is their adult form, where they turn to a green/brown color and return to the water as an aquatic species to reproduce. All in all, these newts can live for over 15 years in the wild!

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Behold the mythical Eastern Hellbender (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis). These fully aquatic salamanders are the largest amphibians in North America and can grow up to 30 inches long! These rare creatures can be found in only the most pristine waters, as they need a perfect balance of cold water, suitable nesting habitat, a large abundance of food, and pollution free water. Hellbenders are known as an indicator species, because their presence in a waterway means that the ecosystem is healthy, and if these populations decline or disappear you know that water quality has been compromised. These creatures have more nicknames then most and have been called lasagna sides, Alleghany alligators, mud devils, and snot otters!

Happy Bee-lated World Bee Day

We all love bees for the enormous role they play as pollinators. Over a third of the food we eat is thanks to these incredibly hard workers, as well as nearly all flowers and even many trees. When most people hear about bees, they usually imagine the European Honeybee, Apis mellifera. While this is an extremely important species to us humans, they are far from the only important species of bee out there. In fact, over 20,000 other species of bees have been described! Here in the US, more than 750 species can be found east of the Mississippi River. About a quarter of our native bees are specialists, meaning they have coevolved with a specific host plant to feed from and transfer pollen between its flowers. Without these native bees, a huge diversity of native wildflowers would disappear.

This Dunning’s Miner, Andrena dunningi, is taking a quick rest on a guide’s hand. As their name suggests, mining bees are ground-nesters. Females dig narrow burrows, preferably in clay soil. Although they are solitary nesters, several females will often construct nests near one another. These small bees overwinter as adults in their brood cells and emerge in early spring. While many mining bees are specialists, the Dunning’s miner is happy to visit several different families of spring blooms.

Despite being the poster child of Apoidea (the bee family), the European Honeybee is actually not very representative of the rest of the bees. While a few other species have social nests (the bumble bees and a handful of sweat bees), the majority of our native bees construct solitary nests or even just a few dispersed brood cells without a nest at all. Even in these social nests, there may be several fertile females that work together to raise their young rather than a single queen. Most bees nest underground, in plant stems, or in tree cavities and pack brood cells with enough rations to feed a larva to adulthood. The female will then lay a single egg in each and seal it off. These species are usually univoltine, meaning they have one generation every year. The larvae only eat the provisions their mothers stored for them before they pupate and emerge as adults the next year

The Spine-Shouldered Cellophane Bee, Colletes simulans, is a Goldenrod specialist. Like the rest of the Cellophane Bees, they nest underground in dry, sandy soil. This group of bees get their name from a plastic-like wax the females secrete that they use to line their nest, holding up the walls and making them waterproof.

There are many important pollinator species- butterflies and moths, flies, beetles, even some birds and bats. All of these species visit flowers to drink from its nectar and sometimes graze on pollen, then “accidentally” transport pollen between flowers. Bees are unique in their behavior of collecting and moving pollen on purpose. Female bees collect large quantities of protein-rich pollen and carbohydrate-rich nectar to provision her brood cells. As she visits flowers, she collects pollen in her pollen basket, commonly found either on the hind legs or under the abdomen. Upon visiting a new flower, she drops off some pollen she is already carrying to make room to pick up more. This results in very high rates of pollen exchange, helping the plant successfully fertilize its seeds.

This Two-spotted Bumblebee, Bombus bimaculatus, is collecting pollen from a sneezeweed aster. Perhaps the best known group of native bee, the bumblebees are adept pollinators. Most species are generalists and are active the entire growing season. Thanks to their long proboscis and robust build, they are able to access flowers with concealed nectaries. They are also some of the only native bees that live in eusocial nests made of a queen and her daughters.

In 2006, news broke of a crisis to bees- Colony Collapse Disorder. Data from beekeepers showed a decline of nearly a third of honeybee populations from 1989 to 2008. Several factors were identified including over-application of pesticides, the introduction of the Varroa mite to European honeybees, and the several disease outbreaks from hive transportation. Since 2008, honeybee populations have been recovering thanks to many of these threats being identified and mitigated. While this is a great success story for the domestic honeybees, research into our native bees’ populations is only just beginning. In addition to many of the same threats, native bees also suffer from habitat loss, resource scarcity, and competition with introduced species. In very recent years, lots of important research is being published, putting native bees in the spotlight of conservation efforts.

The Pugnacious Leafcutter Bee, Megachile pugnata, is an Aster family specialist. Female leafcutters use their large shear-like mandibles to cut circular flakes from leaves, which she uses to line her brood cells. Rather than a single nest with several brood cells, leafcutters typically build several dispersed brood cells in dead, hollow plant stems and other preexisting holes in plants.

If you have a garden, you can help support native bees just by being a lazy gardener. Instead of pulling weeds, do a quick search to see if that plant supports native species and only remove the invasive weeds. Try to support a variety of native wildflowers. Leave clippings on the edges of the garden to provide habitat and resources to nest-building bees. And avoid using toxic pesticides- by supporting a variety of species, they may begin to self-regulate. But an easy way we can all help out the native bees is just by learning a little about them, and checking in on them once in a while. So take a moment this spring and summer to appreciate some of nature’s hardest workers for all the beeauty they make possible.

Wildflower Walk Recap

If you didn’t get a chance to join us on our wildflower walk last Sunday, here’s your chance to live vicariously through pictures! After a bit of back and forth on the best location, we ended up just outside of Fries on the New River Trail. Led by Carol Broderson, our expert on wildflowers, and Amy Boucher, a member of the Friends of New River Trail, we learned some history about the area and then dove right in. 

Group walking on the New River Trail, in an area with many invasive species.

Immediately after starting, Carol pointed out that the predominant species around us were non-natives or invasives that thrive in highly disturbed areas. If you’ve ever walked the Creeper trail in Abingdon, it would look very similar. We saw European honeysuckle, purple deadnettle, garlic mustard, bedstraw, and asiatic bittersweet (to name a few). The best way to manage these species? Stop them from establishing! Removing them is significantly more costly and time consuming than preventing them from showing up! Now that we’ve got that PSA out of the way, here’s what you came for…. the beautiful native wildflowers we did see! 

Virginia Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica): One of the earliest wildflowers.

With five white petals covered in delicate pink striping, Virginia spring beauties are very similar to their relative, the Carolina spring beauty (Claytonia caroliniana). Those pink stripes aren’t just pretty, though- they also reflect UV radiation and attract pollinators, like a runway to the stamens! Under the ground they have small, starchy corms, sometimes called fairy spuds, that can be cooked and eaten like potatoes! While we have plenty of Carolina spring beauties around BRDC, this was my first time seeing the Virginias. And I was struck by how tall they were! Another distinguishing feature was their longer, skinnier leaves. Once you’ve seen both in person, it’s much easier to distinguish them.

Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum): The apples aren’t ready in May!

Another wildflower that’s hard to mistake for anything else, especially when it forms a large colony. First, one leaf will emerge. Just like a closed umbrella, until it POPS open! Some leaves will grow up to a foot in diameter, with deep lobes. Then some will grow a second leaf, giving them a Y-shaped stalk. Plants with two leaves are capable of  developing a flower right where the two leaves meet. Large and white, with yellow stamens and pistils. Because of its placement, sometimes it can be difficult to see. Later in the season, go back and look for the tasty fruit (if the wildlife left you any)! But be careful- all parts of the mayapple are highly toxic except the ripened fruit!

Eastern Red Columbine ft. a caddisfly from the emergence happening on the New River.

Eastern Red Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis): The wildflower of birds.

The long spurs and red color of the columbine flower are perfect for one of its preferred pollinators- the ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). With a long, skinny beak, it has no trouble reaching distant nectaries! Lazy insects, when desperate, may take the easy way out and chew through the petals to reach nectar. This plant will easily hybridize with other non-native, ornamental plants of the same genus. Speaking of genus… its genus name, Aquilegia, comes from the Latin word for eagle- because its spurs look like talons!

Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum): A uniquely-shaped wildflower.

This flower can’t be mistaken for any other here in Virginia. A large green spathe with maroon striping hides a short spadix of flowers. The “Jack” inside the “pulpit”. Pollinated by flies, the best color to attract them is as close to rotting meat as you can get. Individuals can live for more than 25 years, and spread by seed and colonization from their underground corm. Wildlife are very fond of the bunch of tomato-like fruits that they bear in the fall. 

Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense): The spicy wildflower.

Just like the ginger we use today, wild ginger root was once used by Indigenous Americans and settlers as a spice. Nowadays we know that it can contain poisonous compounds, so eat at your own risk! The easiest way to find this wildflower is to look for pairs of heart-shaped leaves. The wild ginger flower has evolved to attract flies emerging after winter. Rusty red and hanging low on the ground, flies think it’s a dead animal and walk right in. The mature seeds are coated in oil, as a tasty bribe for ants. Once underground, the ants get their snack and the seed starts to grow.

Wake Robin or Red Trillium (Trillium erectum): The wildflower that ISN’T Toadshade.

As we learned on our walk, the trilliums wake robin and toadshade (Trillium sessile) are often confused with each other. Understandable, as they both have a whorl of three leaves and maroon flowers. The biggest difference? Wake robins have a stalk between their flower and whorl of leaves, which often has the flower angled down towards the ground. For toadshade, the flower sits directly on top of the leaves and opens up to the sky.

If you couldn’t make it this year, hopefully you can join us next year!

Moons of the Year

Before colonization and calendars, Indigenous people used celestial bodies to track the flow of time throughout the year. Here in southwest Virginia, Cherokee tribes of the eastern band of the Cherokee Indians called this place home. The phases of the moon were used to show the passage of time over an approximate month. Each “year” there are approximately 12 full moons. Every tribe had different names for their moons. Take a look at the names they gave our moons- they’re based on seasonal phenomena!

January: Windy Moon

February: Hungry Moon

March: Strawberry/First leaves Moon

April: Duck/Bird Moon

May: Planting Moon

June: Sprouting Moon

July: Corn in Tassel Moon

August: End of Fruit Moon

September: Nut Moon

October: Harvest Moon

November: Hunter Moon

December: Snow Moon

To understand the moon and its cycle, we need to understand our solar system! Our Sun contains 99% of the available matter in our solar system. Having that much mass means that it has a large gravitational pull. When the sun first formed, leftover matter was trapped traveling around it. Some of that matter collided repeatedly, growing in size. At a certain point, it got its own gravity. Having gravity smoothed out its shape, and we got the planets! While the planets were forming, scientists hypothesize that a large asteroid slammed into Earth and knocked off a large chunk of material that later consolidated into our moon.

Lunar Orbit vs the Line of the Ecliptic

Because of the Sun’s gravitational pull, all the planets orbit around it in a single plane. Essentially, our solar system is flat! From Earth, all other planets, the Moon, the zodiac constellations, and the Sun, appear to rise in the east at night and set in the west. This is called the line of the ecliptic. The Moon isn’t perfectly matched up with the line of the ecliptic- it’s about 5 degrees off.

Just like the planets rotate on an axis and orbit around the sun, the moon rotates on its axis and orbits around the Earth. One popular moon myth is that there’s a “dark” side of the moon that humans never see. And to be fair, it’s partially true! Because the moon is tidally locked with the Earth, it rotates once with each orbit it completes. In other words, the same side always faces the Earth even if that side isn’t always dark.

It takes the Moon 27.3 earth days to complete one revolution, or orbit, around the Earth. This consistent cycle is what makes it such a good calendar! The cycle can even be broken down into smaller units, based on the eight major moon phases. These phases occur because the Moon cannot generate its own light, it reflects light from the sun. So its position relative to Earth and the Sun determines how much of the Moon’s surface is visible to us. As the moon orbits in a counter-clockwise direction around Earth, it will appear to grow for two weeks, and then appear to shrink for two weeks. These periods are called waxing and waning.

A new moon occurs when the moon is between the earth and the sun. That means that the moon and sun appear in the same place in the sky- during the day! We don’t get a solar eclipse every time this happens because of the tilt in the lunar orbit. As the moon grows, it reaches its first official phase, the waxing crescent. Next comes the waxing first quarter moon. It rises around noon and sets at midnight. First quarter may be accurate based on the moon’s cycle, but it feels wrong to call it that because it looks like half a moon! Lastly, we have the waxing gibbous. And then we’ve got a full moon, which rises in the east at sunset and sets in the west at dawn. It is opposite to the sun. It takes around 13.65 days for the moon to get through half its cycle. After the full moon, the moon shrinks to a waning gibbous, waning third quarter, waning crescent, and finally back to the new moon! The waning third quarter moon rises around midnight and sets at noon (opposite of the first quarter).

Countdown to the Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally 50th Anniversary!

We are looking forward to our Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally here at the Blue Ridge Discovery Center, but this year is particularly special. It is the 50th Anniversary of the Spring Naturalist Rally; a weekend that has enriched the highlands of Southwest Virginia for decades, long before it has thrived and grown since its convergence with the Blue Ridge Discovery Center. 

Great White Trillium (Trillium grandiflorum)

Today marks the one-month countdown until our exciting weekend of exploring, discovering, and sharing the wonders of our wild and comforting corner of the Blue Ridge. Be sure to PRE-ORDER our limited edition MRNR t-shirts. Each shirt features some of the mountain-dwelling species that draw nature enthusiasts to the region year after year, including the Magnolia Warbler, Great White Trillium, and the Blue Ridge Dusky Salamander. The last day to ensure you’ll have a shirt is this Friday, April 12th. 

THE RALLY will have a variety of field trips including classics like birding, wildflowers, geology, and the iconic Mount Rogers Hike, as well as some newer favorite topics including a tour of the American Chestnut Foundation’s farm, a caving expedition, wildlife rehabilitation, and a weather balloon launch! Check out the registration page for a full list of our programs. Join us Friday night for dinner, music and evening programs. Saturday brings various hikes and kids programs throughout the day with breakfast, lunch and dinner by reservation only. Then our featured speaker, Kevin Hamed, will be discussing native salamanders, what makes them special, and some of their unique conservation stories. Stick around for more nighttime activities as well as Sunday morning hikes. It’s a full weekend of fun for the whole family!

BRDC receives SWVA Outdoor Recreation Contract

We are excited to announce that Blue Ridge Discovery Center has been awarded the contract to provide web content for the SWVA Outdoors Website. This project is headed up by the Friends of Southwest Virginia and is an effort to highlight the awesome outdoor recreation opportunities our region has to offer. 

Over the course of the next eight months, BRDC will be exploring and networking all across SWVA from the Blue Ridge Escarpment in the east, north toward to the border mountains and all the way to the western tip of VA at Cumberland Gap. Adventures that we will be documenting will include birding, horseback riding, paddling, hiking, biking, climbing, disc golf, touring, fishing and more! You will be able to keep track of our blogs and photographs on the SWVA website where you can find all sorts of information about destinations and events throughout SWVA. 

A large part of our goal is to get others to join this project and help promote and strengthen the SWVA identity. If you know of anyone who would share blogs, events, or photos about outdoor adventures in SWVA, please let us know! This is a great opportunity for individuals or businesses to share their experience and help us strengthen the SWVA identity. 

Beyond the opportunity to help connect more people to the outdoors, this is a great chance for our organization to get to know the place we call home while networking with others that share our values. Blue Ridge Discovery Center is proud to be located in SWVA and we are excited to help shift economic focus to our natural assets.

See you in the Great Outdoors!