Last week the Clemson Wildlife Society had the privilege of hosting the annual Southeastern Wildlife Conclave. We brought in about 500 students and faculty from 22 schools ranging from Maryland to Louisiana. The wildlife conclave is a spirited competition between the wildlife programs of different schools to claim the top spot each year. Students compete in events like orienteering, radio telemetry, fly casting, shotgun shooting, obstacle course (muddy, disgusting, cold), archery, dendrology, quiz bowl (wildlife knowledge double elimination team competition), and much more. Our friends at the University of Georgia took Gold. Go dawgs?

After the conclave students had the opportunity to go on field trips in the Clemson area. I personally had the opportunity to lead a group of students out to Yellow Branch falls to search for salamanders and learn about the topography, flora, and fauna of upstate South Carolina.

This short 3 mile round trip hike takes you to a 50 foot waterfall that is an excellent location to find salamanders big and small from many species. On sunny days it usually gets a nice rainbow (see above photo). It's a great example of what happens when you have an area that gets so much rainfall, mixed with the topographic feature that is the Blue Ridge Escarpment. The Blue Ridge Escarpment is a steep ridge that drops directly to the Piedmont along the upstate of SC. Because of the plethora of streams and the steep terrain, we are fortunate in having a multitude of outstanding waterfalls in the upstate of SC. We even have one that tops 400 feet in height called lower whitewater falls.

Salamanders are always a great way to get people motivated about the outdoors and wildlife in general. I think they have the capability of being a strong charismatic megafauna (mega in my opinion) much like the polar bear or the elephant. They're a very likable animal and are a bottomless pit of scientific experience and exploration for students of all ages. They're durable, easy to find, and for the most part harmless. All this being said salamanders, as well as many other amphibians, are in a state of rapid population and diversity decline. We are losing amphibians around the world quickly and with very little knowledge as to how to stop this loss. Lots of work, and stronger regulations are needed to protect these critters. They may be small, but because of their huge population densities and nutrient absorbing capabilities they play an important role in overall watershed health and processes.They are also the dominant predator in small streams and many wetlands, controlling the dynamics of nutrient flux between aquatic and terrestrial habitats, as well population dynamics of macro invertebrates (stream bugs). So, they may be small (like this guy) but they carry their weight and then some when it comes to maintaining healthy streams.