Shenandoah Salamander
Latin name: Plethodon Shenandoah,Conservsation status: vulnerable (population is stable)
The Shenandoah Salamander has no lungs—it "breathes" through its skin. A tail or toes lost to a predator will re-grow in a few weeks.
The Shenandoah Salamander lives in an isolated, high altitude region of Shenandoah National Park, USA. Like all amphibians who have thin, permeable skin, salamanders are very sensitive to environmental changes. If average temperatures or moisture increase, this salamander, restricted to its cool micro-climate, will be at risk—having no place to go but to lower, even warmer, altitudes. If warming causes other species of lower altitude salamanders to migrate higher, they will compete for the Shenandoah's cool, moist habitats.
Other animals effected by climate change
Polar BearPolar Bears live only in the Arctic. Loss of sea ice has a critically adverse effect on Polar Bears. They hunt from the edge and build snow dens on the ice for resting and raising their cubs. Sea ice decline could open the Arctic to shipping and tourism, further disturbing Arctic habitats. Other threats are oil development and industrial pollution that reaches the Arctic through air and ocean currents.
Bicknells ThrushThe breeding habitat of Bicknell's Thrush is primarily restricted to mountain spruce forests of Northeastern US and Canada. They winter in the Caribbean and spring migration north is cued by day length. If spring arrives early in the north and the Thrushes arrive at their normal time, the abundance of food—insects and fruit—would already have peaked. Warming temperatures also produce an abundance of spruce and fir cones—feeding and increasing the population of Red Squirrels, a main predator of eggs and chicks. Storms and hurricanes threaten the Thrush's tropical winter habitat. Pollution, logging and deforestation threaten their spring breeding and winter habitats.
BelugaBelugas live in Arctic and Sub-Arctic waters. Impacts from climate change include: an increase in ship traffic as sea ice declines, oil exploration and extraction, fisheries by-catch, and disruption of the food web. As Arctic waters warm and currents change, the Humpback (a competitor) and the Orca (a predator) may move north and stay longer. Some Beluga populations are also threatened by hunting, pollution and habitat loss.
Arctic FoxThe Arctic tundra is a region of shrubs, grasses and permanently frozen subsoil. Warming could change the tundra to boreal forest—habitat for the Red Fox. The Red Fox, a predator and a competitor for food, is already beginning to migrate north into the Arctic Fox's territory. Milder tundra weather also causes changes in the population of lemmings and rodents—main food for the Arctic Fox.