Testing the Responses of Salamander Community Assemblages in Southern Appalachia to Past Climate Change

The purpose of the project is designed to explore how the dynamics of glacial refugia have affected genetic diversity in salamanders in southern Appalachia, including population structure and lineage divergence. This project will produce three primary types of information useful to park management and conservation. (1) Genome-wide molecular data for salamander species in the park for which little genetic information exists, which will provide a more complete picture on population structure and overall genetic health for these species. (2) Fine-scale mapping of climate refugia, which would have served as contact zones in the past, and possibly in the future. (3) A better understanding of how species responded to climate change in the past, which will be useful in assessing the impacts of future climate change.