AF was founded with the singular mission to stop the imminent extinction of the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander — a species that most people have never even heard of, and yet has dissappeared from South Carolina, is now restricted to a single wetland in Georgia, and remains in two small clusters of wetlands in Florida.

Since 2016, AF has established captive survival-assurance colonies in outdoor mesocosms at the Blue Heron Nature Preserve in Atlanta, several captive propagation colonies in an isolated, biosecure lab we built just for Frosties, and have successfully spawned the species for the first time ever. Subsequently, we have transfered baby Frosties to several partner organizations and have founded the Frosted Flatwoods Salamander Conservation Breeding Working Group.

AF is a proud member of the Striped Newt Repatriation Project, a coalition of zoos and conservation orgs working together to save this imperiled little newt, which only occupies a small number of wetlands in Georgia and Florida.

Each year, the project partners spawn 100's of baby Striped Newts, which are experiementally released into managed habitat, under the guidance of the Coastal Plains Institute, and the permission of Florida Fish & Wildlife and Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Gopher Frog is Georgia's rarest frog, and is restricted to just a handful on wetlands in the state. Staff in AF's Conservation Research Bridge Program have been working to conserve this slippery anuran through Assisted-Metamorphosis — head-starting — since 2009, and have experiementally released, with partners, thousands of Gopher Froglets into protected habitat.

We work with many partners on an interstate project in the Southeast. For the past several years, we have worked closely with US Fish & Wildlife Service, University of Georgia, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, and Alabama Department of Conservation of Natural Resources to double the number of known Gopher Frog populations in the state of Alabama — from one to two, by releasing hundreds of young Gopher Frogs each year at a wetland, constructed by AL DCNR, especially for Gopher Frogs.

The Blue-spotted Salamander is a remarkably beautiful and enigmatic salamander with a secret. Throughout their range, a huge percentage of what appears to be Blue-spotted Salamanders are, in actuality, a ... deep breath ... unisexual all-female hybrid kletptogen - or if you prefer, a sperm stealing genetic parasite. The hybrids form primarily with Jefferson's Salamanders, but can include the DNA of any member of the family Ambystomatidae that is sympatric, or shares the range, with Blue-spots. True genetic Blue-spotted Salamanders can be exceedingly rare.

One of the places where true Blue-spotted Salamanders exist is the Eastern tip of Long Island, NY. AF partners with the South Fork Museum of Natural History on Long Island on a reproductive biology study, where we are hoping to discover the proper cues to successfully breed them in the lab, and spawn healthy offspring which can serve as candidates for experimental release into the wild.

The Pigeon Mountain Salamander has an extremely small range, occupying one side of one spur of one mountain in Georgia, and nowhere else on earth. The species is considered stable throughout its limited range, and AF is grateful forr the opportunity to be one of the salamander's stewards, as we conduct twice monthly surveys (one diurnal/one nocturnal) where we are collecting occupancy data at key points in the range, as well as disease surveillance — testing for emergent infectious diseases like chytrid and ranavirus. Invasive diseases have been detected in Atlanta, and could be disastrous to wild populations of Pigeon Mountain Salamanders if it reach their region.

The Green Salamander is a mysterious species in Georgia. It's an arboreal salamander with great camoflague and it almost effortlessly evades detection. The species is considered stable throughout its limited range, and AF is grateful forr the opportunity to be one of the salamander's stewards, as we conduct twice monthly surveys (one diurnal/one nocturnal) where we are collecting occupancy data at key points in the range, as well as disease surveillance — testing for emergent infectious diseases like chytrid and ranavirus. 

There's a huge purple-black salamander, with bright yellow and (sometimes) orange spots ... that is also super mysterious and remains underground for 50+ weeks a year — the Spotted Salamander. While Spotted Salamanders are generally considered 'stable' throughout their range, in a city like Atlanta, Spotted Salamander populations have declined.

Through extensive surveys at 110 sites inside of Atlanta's I-285 perimeter, we have only detected a handful of sites occupied by Spotted Salamanders. Most of their forested habitats with ephemeral wetlands have disappeared, and many sites are no longer suitable to support the species becuase of development, invasive plants, pollution, and hydrological changes.

Working with land managers at sites like Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve and the Atlanta History Center, we have been able to successfully reintroduce Spotted Salamanders to these restored habitats in the city. The main reason for the project's success is because these reintroductions were preceeded by years of restoration work by our dedicated partners. At each site, within 3 years, we were able to detect returning adult salamanders, coming back to the pond where they were released — to breed!

There's a huge black salamander, with bright white or silvery marbling on its back ... that is also super mysterious and remains underground for 50+ weeks a year — the Marbled Salamander. While Marbled Salamanders are generally considered 'stable' throughout their range, in a city like Atlanta, Marbled Salamander populations have almost disappeared.

Through extensive surveys at 110 sites inside of Atlanta's I-285 perimeter, we have only detected 2 sites occupied by Marbled Salamanders. Most of their forested habitats with ephemeral wetlands have disappeared, and many sites are no longer suitable to support the species becuase of development, invasive plants, pollution, and hydrological changes. Furthermore, Marbled Salamanders breed in the fall (around Halloween) and lay their eggs terrestrially in the upper edges of dry ephemeral wetlands. The eggs develop and wait for seasonal rain to fill their pond and inundate the eggs. That's quite a risky strategy!

Working with land managers at sites like Clyde Shepherd Nature Preserve and the Atlanta History Center, we have been working to successfully reintroduce Marbled Salamanders to these restored habitats in the city. Marbled Salamanders often occupy the same ephemeral wetlands and habitats of Spotted Salamanders, and recently we have detected adult Marbled Salamanders at the release sites. Hopefully, within the next few years we'll find Marbled Salamander nests, being guarded by mom — that would be the next sign that our project is successful.