Investigating fire severity effects on soil arthropod prey for the endangered Jemez Mountains salamander (Plethodon neomexicanus)

Recent high severity wildfires in the Jemez Mountains, New Mexico, are likely contributing to the drastic decline of the endemic endangered Jemez Mountains salamander (JMS; Plethodon neomexicanus). JMS feed on small soil and leaf litter dwelling arthropods including Hymenoptera, Coleoptera and Acari. Wildfire can influence arthropod assemblages in a variety of ways and effects can differ with habitat type and fire severity. Wildfires have also been shown to affect soil abiotic factors (pH, moisture and temperature) which may pose threats to JMS health and influence arthropod communities. JMS are lungless and completely terrestrial, requiring strict microhabitat conditions to respire and hunt for prey. Our goal is to assess wildfire severity effects on the arthropod prey base and microhabitat characteristics to quantify changes that may impact JMS. We hypothesize that arthropod abundance will differ across the fire severity classes. We sampled 120 pitfall traps every two weeks for five sampling points across summer 2023. Pitfall traps were installed beneath JMS cover objects (rocks and logs) in unburned, low severity, and medium/high severity sites in JMS historic habitat. Results to date suggest that Hymenoptera and Acari may favor low and moderate/high severity burned habitats compared to unburned sites. However, Coleoptera were similarly abundant across all of the fire severity classes. This research on how fire severity may affect JMS habitat and diet will guide future conservation and restoration projects to mitigate stressors that the salamanders face amid wildfire outbreaks.