River Monsters

Each year approximately three million tourists visit western North Carolina’s Pisgah National Forest to enjoy the great outdoors. Little do they know, one of the largest salamander species in the United States might be creeping along the riverbed around their feet. The fully-aquatic Cryptobranchus alleganiensis, commonly called hellbenders, can grow up to two-feet long yet are still easy to miss. Hellbenders are highly secretive and harmless to humans despite their intimidating name. They dine almost entirely on crayfish and rely on large rocks for cover, nesting and foraging space. For more than 15 years, Dr. Cathy Jachowski in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conversation has been researching the habitat requirements and the ecosystem that hellbenders inhabit throughout the southeastern United States in hopes of informing conservation actions. Since arriving at Clemson in 2016, she has worked closely with North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission biologists to learn more about hellbender conservation status.

The Hellbender Ecology Creative Inquiry project was established to find, track and log hellbender activity in western North Carolina. There is little known about hellbenders due to their cryptic nature. “The species was petitioned to be listed under the Endangered Species Act just a couple years ago, and it was decided that there wasn’t enough data to support listing. So, students get a chance to be involved in the processes to start harnessing data that will inform science, policy-making and protection of the species in the future,” Jachowski said.

This past fall, the team surveyed for hellbenders in part of the French Broad River system near Brevard, North Carolina—just a portion of the nearly 500,000-acre Pisgah National Forest. Though these salamanders typically stay hidden under large rocks for protection, many of them were moving about to breed, which generally occurs during the first two weeks of September. The students inventoried the salamanders and microchipped them with PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags. Tagging cryptic species is a common practice among researchers to understand their social interactions and monitor their movements. The team also scanned the area for previously tagged salamanders. Back on campus, the team began to process the data they collected. “There are many hours that go into processing the [PIT tag] data, documenting our work and reading scientific literature, but this is where the real change happens. We’re able to present findings that start facilitating actions to protect the species and its habitat,” Andrew ‘Drew’ Kanes, a senior environmental and natural resources major, explained.

Hellbenders are an indicator species, meaning their health correlates with the river’s health. A hellbender can live up to 30 years, spending most of its life in a 30 to 100-foot length of stream. “When you think about it, the resources that this animal needs to grow from about two inches to over two feet long need to be right there [in their living space] for a really long period,” Jachowski said. Anything that affects water quality in the river or disturbs the rock crevices in their small home range can drive hellbender populations down. Once prevalent from New York to Georgia, these salamanders are now mainly found in the western Carolinas and Virginias. The team wants to provide information that will keep the hellbenders from disappearing from more of their range.

During the Summer Creative Inquiry and Undergraduate Research (CI+UR) program, Jachowski developed a collaboration with biologists from the United States Forest Service (USFS), which manages Pisgah National Forest. Zoe Wills, a senior wildlife and fisheries biology major, devoted her time to collecting hellbender data to further the Creative Inquiry team’s research, in addition to serving in a Pisgah Conservancy internship position as a River Ranger. Lorie Stroup, the USFS Pisgah Zone Fisheries Biologist, started the River Ranger program to address the growing human impacts on streams in Pisgah and worked with Jachowski and the Summer CI+UR program to provide Wills with a salary, housing, training and opportunities to lead education and outreach initiatives. “One of my favorite parts of the summer was being involved with the education and outreach program. I really enjoyed teaching the public about this species and getting them excited about salamanders. We talked about how hellbenders are affected by recreation and what we can do (or not do) to help mitigate harm,” Wills said.

Even if hellbenders are not commonly seen, recreation enthusiasts have an important and immediate impact on the ecosystem and especially its imperiled species. The Hellbender Ecology Creative Inquiry team encourages others to be active in the wilderness, but be sure to clean up your space and leave rocks in the river just as you find them—a hellbender might be underneath!