The red-backed salamander (RBS; Plethodon cinereus) has a large geographic range and, though it is common throughout, abundance varies spatially. It has been studied extensively for at least a century and as a result; its distribution, habitat use, behavioral ecology, reproductive ecology, and ecological role are well understood in comparison to other cryptic wildlife. Multiple sampling methods have been developed to monitor RBS, and I discuss in detail one common method – artificial cover objects (ACOs). Spatial capture-recapture (SCR) is uniquely suited to estimate population parameters, including true density, and is paired well with spatially referenced sampling methods, such as ACOs, and animals capable of retaining unique marks, such as RBS. In the introduction of this thesis, I review RBS, ACOs, and SCR independently in detail, and go on to discuss their compatibility for monitoring terrestrial salamander populations. Detailed, and often range-wide, monitoring of ecosystems is necessary to gather the information needed to achieve broad multiple-scale conservation objectives. Indicator species are recommended tools for filling in gaps of knowledge where these range-wide data do not exist. The use of indicator species is precluded by the lack of evaluation of candidate indicators and their relationship to indicated processes. In this thesis, I discuss in detail the practicality of indicator species as wildlife management tools, and challenges in their application – primarily their practicality when direct measurement of a variable of interest is possible. I advocate for integrative indicator species applications that make use of relationships to latent variables, review two conceptual models involving latent variables, and propose a modification to these models that makes relationships between variables more explicit. Inference of among-population variation to adaptive capacity, response to large-scale threats, and the condition of ecosystems is limited in part by unstandardized methods. Ecological relationships are made difficult to characterize by gaps in data - and this is especially true of links between indicator species their and related ecosystem processes. Using a candidate indicator species, I tested the congruence of population parameter estimates from study designs that varied. In Wendell State Forest, MA, I manipulated spatial arrangements of artificial cover objects (ACO) arrays and evaluated their use for monitoring terrestrial salamanders. ACOs mimic natural habitat - and attraction of RBS to traps may induce behavioral bias in parameter estimates if not accounted for. I sought to determine if variation in ACO design can be accommodated to make comparable estimates. I found that analyzing data from ACOs using spatial capture-recapture (SCR) modeling produces consistent within-population density estimates regardless of ACO configuration.