[9] The species has adaptions conducive to an arboreal lifestyle, with relatively long legs and toes that have expanded terminal pads with square cut ends to aid in both vertical climbing and gliding.

[2] Prior to splitting, the clouded salamander's range extended from northern California to Oregon, with an adjunct population on Vancouver Island.

It has been postulated that A. vagrans was introduced to Vancouver Island in the nineteenth century via large sheets of tanoak bark imported from California for the tanning industry, and subsequently spread to nearly all the surrounding islets on floating logs.

[2] Wandering salamanders are known to inhabit bark crevices, and several leather tanning facilities were established on Vancouver Island in the decades before the first recorded occurrence of the species in 1906.

Another theory holds that the wandering salamander's presence on Vancouver Island is the result of natural log-rafting from California on the north-flowing Davidson Current.

[14] Prior being split from A. ferreus, it was hypothesized that the wandering salamander's disjunct distribution was the result of glaciation, with the species' once continuous population becoming fragmented by glaciers but persisting in refugia in California and Vancouver Island.

[17] Adult salamanders can be found in the forest canopy, or moist terrestrial habitats such as rotting logs, bark crevices, stumps, and the underside of rocks.

[4] Although research on arboreal microhabitat selection in this species has been minimal, they appear to associate with epiphytic fern mats in the crotches of redwood branches.

[2][7] This species is a generalist feeder, consuming small invertebrates such as ants, mites, adult beetles and their larvae, snails, springtails and woodlice.

Wind tunnel experiments have found that wandering salamanders can control their pitch, roll, and yaw when in the air such that their body remains upright and stable in a "skydiving" posture that reduces descent speed.

[13] Parasagittal undulations of the tail and torso allow wandering salamanders to glide in a controlled manner similar to arboreal squamates.

[25] Threat posturing in this species involves raising the entire body of the ground while straightening their legs and arching their back and tail.

[1] Habitat loss due to intensive, short-rotation logging practices and land clearing for agriculture and residential development is believed to be the primary cause of population declines.

[8] And in arid regions, stumps and woody debris created by logging might not make suitable habitat for wandering salamanders because they are too dry.

[8] Climate change is likely a threat to this species due to drought and habitat shifts in the coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone in which the salamanders dwell.

[1][3] The emerging Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans fungus also has the potential to affect wandering salamander populations, though it has not yet been confirmed to be present in North America.