The Greene Tract is an empty parcel of land that governments and residents alike have eyed for decades as a site for housing development. But it's also home to a small, lungless amphibian called the four-toed salamander.
The salamanders' presence on the property has shaped how the land will be used and how the wildlife conservation corridors will be balanced with affordable housing development.
While the species is common across the northeastern United States, in North Carolina it holds the status of being a species of special concern.
According to David Pfennig, a biology professor at UNC, that status designation is an informal category between species of least concern and endangered or threatened species. He said these salamanders have the status because of spotty distribution of four-toed salamanders in North Carolina despite suitable habitats across the state.
Salamanders are sensitive to environmental degradation, and lungless salamanders are particularly vulnerable, Pfennig said. Water and oxygen easily pass through their permeable skin, as well as any contaminants polluting the streams they inhabit. At the same time, the salamanders play a role as bioindicators of environmental quality.
“They’re kind of the proverbial canary in the coal mine,” Pfennig said.
Contaminated runoff during development or chemicals used on the property following development, such as herbicides like Roundup, could weaken salamander populations at a time when salamanders across the world are experiencing declines in population, he said.
“What would concern me more is that while the things that happen in this development may not specifically kill the animals, it may stress them out to such a degree that then they’re vulnerable to things like these new diseases,” Pfennig said.
Any development should include buffers to divert water and limitations on any surfaces that could produce runoff, like asphalt, he said.
