Last updated: August 13, 2024
Place
Stony Man: Essential Habitat for an Elusive Amphibian
As you climb higher up the back of Stony Man, you will notice subtle changes in the air. The mountain peak is cooler than even at the parking lot where you started below. As warm air rises from the valley and hits the weathered slopes of the mountain ridge, it cools. Along its journey, air cools at a rate of approximately 3.5 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit per 1,000 feet climbed. This means that once you are standing atop Stony Man's summit, it is actually 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the Shenandoah Valley you're looking out over!
Being high above the valley floor turns Stony Man, and the other tall peaks in the Park, into islands in the sky. The cooler climate allows for unexpected plants and animals to thrive. As you walk up the trail, look for Balsam Fir, with their soft, flat needles and upturned cones, and Red Spruce, with stiff, sharp needles and downturned cones. These trees are relics from when the overall climate of the area was more similar to that of the far north. As the climate became warmer, the spruce and fir could only survive on isolated high peaks.
Take a moment to look around and notice changes in the rocky terrain. The greenstone that lines the trail here is more exposed, and upon reaching the summit, it stretches down in a large boulder field, or talus slope. The rocks on this mountain are actually one of the only places in the world that the endangered Shenandoah Salamander can survive. Due to the cooling effect of the mountain, low clouds often rest atop the peaks in Shenandoah, shrouding the forest in fog. This also keeps the soil and stone dampened, which is necessary for the Shenandoah Salamander to survive as they are a species of lungless salamander that requires constant moisture to respirate through its skin!
Unfortunately, much like the spruce and fir trees, as the climate continues to change, the Shenandoah Salamander is finding less habitat to call home. Not only is the mountain becoming warmer, but it is drying out. Other species, like the Red-Backed Salamander, that can survive these conditions are spreading up the mountain and outcompeting the Shenandoah Salamander for food.
These islands in the sky are becoming smaller and smaller with coming each year.
Being high above the valley floor turns Stony Man, and the other tall peaks in the Park, into islands in the sky. The cooler climate allows for unexpected plants and animals to thrive. As you walk up the trail, look for Balsam Fir, with their soft, flat needles and upturned cones, and Red Spruce, with stiff, sharp needles and downturned cones. These trees are relics from when the overall climate of the area was more similar to that of the far north. As the climate became warmer, the spruce and fir could only survive on isolated high peaks.
Take a moment to look around and notice changes in the rocky terrain. The greenstone that lines the trail here is more exposed, and upon reaching the summit, it stretches down in a large boulder field, or talus slope. The rocks on this mountain are actually one of the only places in the world that the endangered Shenandoah Salamander can survive. Due to the cooling effect of the mountain, low clouds often rest atop the peaks in Shenandoah, shrouding the forest in fog. This also keeps the soil and stone dampened, which is necessary for the Shenandoah Salamander to survive as they are a species of lungless salamander that requires constant moisture to respirate through its skin!
Unfortunately, much like the spruce and fir trees, as the climate continues to change, the Shenandoah Salamander is finding less habitat to call home. Not only is the mountain becoming warmer, but it is drying out. Other species, like the Red-Backed Salamander, that can survive these conditions are spreading up the mountain and outcompeting the Shenandoah Salamander for food.
These islands in the sky are becoming smaller and smaller with coming each year.