Habitat characteristics of sites with Yellow-Blotched Salamanders (Ensantina eschscholtzii croceator).

.—I surveyed 11 tributary canyons to the Kern River Canyon at the southern edge of the Sierra Nevada of Californiain 1999-2000 to characterize quantitatively the sites where I found 23 juvenile and 16 adult Yellow-blotched Salamanders(Ensatina eschscholtzii croceator). Most salamanders I found were under logs and rocks on loamy soil, and sites with adultsalamanders could be distinguished from those with juveniles based on soil moisture of cover sites, distance of cover from astream, and aspect direction. Sites with salamanders irrespective of age class had > 55% mean canopy cover and generallywere on slopes of 20-30o with a NW-NE aspect. The mean soil temperature where salamanders were found was significantlylower than mean ambient air temperature (10.4 vs. 15.2o C), and mean humidity under cover was significantly higher thanmean ambient humidity (61.0% vs. 44.1%).