Photo by Griffin Dahl, around a dried up vernal pool in Raven Ridge Natural Area.
By Ellen Gawarkiewicz –
While hiking below a vast dolostone face within the Raven Ridge Natural Area on the border of Hinesburg, Monkton, and Charlotte, a bright orange figure caught my eye waddling along a patch of leaf litter. The area was most likely a dried up vernal pool, a seasonal breeding pool for amphibians, covered thoroughly with wet leaves, fallen snags and mossy cobble. Captivated by its silent presence and clumsy strides, I was in awe of the fact that I had never notice this gentle forest dweller in the past. This adolescent salamander was an Eastern Newt, a complex amphibian migrating between Vermont’s waterways and the moist crevices of a typical Northern Hardwood Forest.
Breeding
The breeding process for an Eastern Newt begins during early spring, as the egg filled female searches for a mate near potential breeding ponds. The females are attracted to a male’s spots and appealing pheromones that waft through the water as they wiggle their broad tails. Males then drop sperm packets in the water, awaiting the female to pick up these packets with their cloaca, a cavity located at the end of amphibians digestive tract, in order to fertilize her eggs successfully [1]. Finally, a female will lay her eggs one at a time and scatter them upon aquatic plants, leaving them to survive independently for around a month or two before hatching [2].
Incubation/ Larval Stage:
These 200 to 400 jelly covered eggs now go through a 2 to 6 week incubation stage before hatching, followed by their larval stage lasting another 2 to 6 months. During this stage larvae are brownish-green and develop gills, growing to about a half inch in length. These larvae feed on small aquatic insects and crustaceans until they leave their birth ponds into the summer, lose their gills and start their first terrestrial stage of life [1].
Eft/ Juvenile Stage:
At last, the larvae develop into their juvenile, terrestrial stage where they are known as Red Efts. Efts use their bright orangish-red coloration to warn predators of their poisonous skin secretions. But don’t fear, handling these creatures is perfectly safe. Red Efts grow up to 5 inches in length and reach sexual maturity around 3 years old [4]. These juvenile efts feed on small invertebrates like snails, springtails and soil mites. Eastern Newts can survive in the eft stage for up to eight years before maturing into their adult stage so long as their habitat is sufficiently moist for survival [3].
Mature Stage:
As efts reach their mature adult stage, their skin darkens reaching a brownish-yellow or green coloration, their tails flatten, and their underbelly brightens to a yellow color with black spots. They now return to aquatic environments, searching for temporary and seasonal habitats anywhere from small lakes to marshes, though mature newts prefer abandoned beaver ponds [4]. Here they feed on immature aquatic insects, larvae and other amphibians breeding in nearby vernal pools, continuing the life cycle of the Eastern Newt for further generations to come [2]. The Eastern Newt is a delicate and often overlooked species found throughout the eastern United States, so remember next time you’re walking in the woods, especially in the rain, keep your eyes peeled for orange flashes under logs and rocks… it might just make your day.
Griffin Dahl is a rising UVM junior studying Natural Resource Ecology and taking part in a undergraduate field naturalist pilot program this summer.
[1] http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/cms/One.aspx?portalId=73163&pageId=149749
[2] http://www.nhptv.org/wild/easternnewt.asp
[3] http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/eastern_newt.htm
[4] http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Frog-Amphibian-Species/Eastern-Newt/
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