David Marsh

Education

• Ph.D. Population Biology, University of California, Davis, 2000
• B.A. Biology, University of Virginia, 1993

Research

Effects of Climate Change on Endemic Mountaintop Salamanders
Virginia is home to several endemic salamanders that live only on a single mountain or a set of connected ridges. On the lower slopes of these mountains, these endemic salamanders come into contact with widespread competitors that are found over broad areas and elevations. My lab is working to understand what limits the range of the mountaintop species, what happens in the areas where competing species overlap, and how climate change will likely affect the future distributions of salamanders in the Appalachians. To answer these questions, we use a variety of tools, including field work, spatial modeling (e.g. GIS), and population genetic analysis.

Urban Ecology of Reptiles and Amphibians
Increasingly, biologists are recognizing the importance of urban wildlife for conservation and for providing opportunities to interact with the natural world to people living in urban areas. With amphibians and reptiles, some cities turn out to have a surprising variety of species, at least if you know where to look. We are using community science data (e.g. iNaturalist), to better understand distributions and patterns of species richness of herps in cities in North America. We are asking questions such as: How well can herp species richness in urban parks be predicted from characteristics of parks and the cities they are in? What kinds of species disappear or become rare along a gradient from more rural to more urban areas? Do urban areas promote the spread of non-native species, such as Italian Wall Lizards, Cuban Treefrogs, and Mediterranean Geckos?

Movement Behavior of Box Turtles
Turtles potentially have long lifespans but can be at high risk of mortality from cars. We’re working collaboratively to analyze data from a 20-year project tracking the movements of Box Turtles around the Blue Ridge Parkway near campus. Previous studies have examined turtle movements over a year or two, but this longer data set offers a great opportunity to study how individual turtles learn to navigate their environment, avoid roads, and find breeding sites as they gain life experience. We hope to better understand when and where turtles cross roads and whether aspects of road design or maintenance can discourage turtles from crossing in dangerous locations.

Teaching

• Statistics for Biology and Medicine (BIOL 2110)
• Modern Computational Biostatistics (BIOL 3001)
• Disease Ecology, or Microbiome (BIOL 1111)
• Field Herpetology (BIOL 2420)
• Animal Behavior (BIOL 2430)

Selected Publications

• Marsh, D. M., Finnegan, T.*, Holmes, C.*, & Li, J.* 2026. Comparing iNaturalist and Traditional Surveys for Estimating Richness, Diversity, and Abundance of Reptiles and Amphibians. Herpetologica 82, 1-11.
  
  
• Marsh, D. M., Medina, J.*, & Wilkinson, B.* 2024. Predicting amphibian and reptile distributions and species richness across urban parks in the eastern United States. Urban Ecosystems, 27, 125-145.
  
  
• Marsh, D. M., Finnegan, T.*, Kinney, I.*, Smith, S.*, & Stern, C. R.* 2023. Changes in reptile and amphibian communities across urbanization gradients in eastern North America. Global Ecology and Conservation, 48, e02734.
  
  
• Moosman Jr, P. R., Marsh, D.M., Pody, E. K., and Brust, T. J. 2023. Differential selection of roosts by Eastern Small-footed Myotis (Myotis leibii) relative to rock structure and microclimate. Journal of Mammalogy 104: 723-738.
  
  
• Ryan, I.Q.*, Barham, W.G.*, and Marsh, D.M. 2021. Using Digital Photography to Quantify Foraging Intake in Translucent Salamanders. Herpetological Review 52: 279-284.
  
  
• Page, R.B., Conarroe, C.*, Quintanilla, D., Palomo, A., Solis, J., Aguilar, A., Bezold, K., Sackman, A.M. and Marsh, D.M., 2020. Genetic variation in Plethodon cinereus and Plethodon hubrichti from in and around a contact zone. Ecology and Evolution, 10, 9948-9967.
  
  
• Marsh, D. M., Caffio-Learner, A.*, Daccache, A. M.*, Dewing, M. B.*, McCreary, K. L.*, Richendollar, N. J.*, & Skinner, F. P.* 2020. Range limits and demography of a mountaintop endemic salamander and its widespread competitor. Copeia, 108: 358-368.
  
  
• Marsh, D. M., Townes, F. W.*, Cotter, K. M.*, Farroni, K.*, McCreary, K. L.*, Petry, R. L.*, and Tilghman, J. M.* 2019. Thermal preference and species range in mountaintop salamanders and their widespread competitors. Journal of Herpetology, 53: 96-103.
  
  
• Marsh, D. M., and Cosentino, B. J. 2019. Causes and consequences of non-random drop-outs for citizen science projects: lessons from the North American amphibian monitoring program. Freshwater Science, 38: 292-302.
  
  
• Marsh, D. M., Cosentino, B. J., Jones, K. S. et al. 2017. Effects of roads and land use on frog distributions across spatial scales and regions in the Eastern and Central United States. Diversity and Distributions, 23, 158-170.
  
  
• Marsh, D. M., & Jaeger, J. A. G. 2015. Direct effects of roads on small animal populations. Roads and ecological infrastructure. Concepts and applications for small animals. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 42-56.
  
  
• Cosentino, B. J., Marsh, D. M., Jones, K. S., et al. 2014. Citizen science reveals widespread negative effects of roads on amphibian distributions. Biological Conservation, 180, 31-38.
  
  
• Hoopes, M.F., Marsh, D.M., Beard, K.H. et al. 2013. Invasive Plants in Wildlife Refuges: Coordinated Research with Undergraduate Ecology Courses. BioScience 63: 644-656.
  
  
• Tilghman, J.M.*, Ramee, S.W.* and D. M. Marsh. 2012. Meta-analysis of the effects of canopy removal on terrestrial salamander populations in North America. Biological Conservation 152: 1-9.
  
  
• Bayer, C.O*., Sackman, A.S.*, Bezold, K., Cabe, P.R., and Marsh, D.M. 2012. Conservation genetics of a mountaintop salamander with an extremely limited range. Conservation Genetics 13: 443-454.

*indicates W&L students