Checking the Status of Green Salamanders in the Georgia Blue Ridge

Green Salamanders (Aneides aeneus) are considered a “species of greatest concern” in Georgia due to habitat fragmentation, climate change, overcollection, and disease. Information about the distribution and genetic diversity within A. aeneus populations is outdated. To aid the Georgia Departmental of Natural Resources in evaluating the status of this species, we will resurvey known sites in the Georgia Blue Ridge, as well as seek out new sites using LiDAR data. We will collect non-lethal tissue samples from each population to conduct population genomic analyses to estimate divergence, gene flow, and genetic diversity