Effects of experimental forest management on a terrestrial, woodland salamander in Missouri

Hocking, Daniel J.; Connette, Grant M.; Conner, Christopher A.; Scheffers, Brett R.; Pittman, Shannon E.; Peterman, William E.; Semlitsch, Raymond D.

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2012.09.013

Cited by 39 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…These conclusions are timely and consistent with many recent studies in the region [36][37][38] that found a declining trend in abundance of red-backs in New England forests. Moreover, although the coverage of this study is relatively small, it confirmed our expectations regarding the contribution of invasive pests and habitat disturbances to the wide scale decline of amphibian populations.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Response of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) to Changes in Hemlock Forest Soil Driven by Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae)

Ochs

Siddig

2017

Environments

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Hemlock forests of the northeastern United States are declining due to the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) (Adelges tsugae). Hardwood species replace these forests, which affects soil properties that may influence other communities, such as red-backed salamanders (red-backs) (Plethodon cinereus). This study examined the effects of HWA invasion on soil properties and how this affects red-backs at the Hemlock Removal Experiment at Harvard Forest, which consists of eight 0.8 ha plots treated with girdling to simulate HWA invasion, logging to simulate common management practices, or hemlock-or hardwood-dominated controls. Coverboard surveys were used to determine the relative abundance of red-backs between plots during June and July 2014 and soil cores were collected from which the bulk density, moisture, pH, temperature, leaf litter, and carbon-nitrogen ratio were measured. Ordination provided a soil quality index based on temperature, pH, and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, which was significantly different between plot treatments (p < 0.05) and showed a significant negative correlation with the red-back relative abundance (p < 0.05). The findings support the hypothesis that red-backs are affected by soil quality, which is affected by plot treatment and thus HWA invasion. Further studies should explore how salamanders react in the long term towards changing environments and consider the use of red-backs as indicator species.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Response of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) to Changes in Hemlock Forest Soil Driven by Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae)

Ochs

Siddig

2017

Environments

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“…We conducted bird surveys at some locations in >1 year (range 1–3, ). However, we did not employ open-population models that explicitly account for interannual dynamics at a location because these parameters were not the focus of this analysis and because these models typically require large amounts of data [38,39]. Instead, for points surveyed in >1 year, we selected only the year with the largest overall count for that species (sum of all visits within a year) and omitted other years.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

When Winners Become Losers: Predicted Nonlinear Responses of Arctic Birds to Increasing Woody Vegetation

et al. 2016

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Climate change is facilitating rapid changes in the composition and distribution of vegetation at northern latitudes, raising questions about the responses of wildlife that rely on arctic ecosystems. One widely observed change occurring in arctic tundra ecosystems is an increasing dominance of deciduous shrub vegetation. Our goals were to examine the tolerance of arctic-nesting bird species to existing gradients of vegetation along the boreal forest-tundra ecotone, to predict the abundance of species across different heights and densities of shrubs, and to identify species that will be most or least responsive to ongoing expansion of shrubs in tundra ecosystems. We conducted 1,208 point counts on 12 study blocks from 2012–2014 in northwestern Alaska, using repeated surveys to account for imperfect detection of birds. We considered the importance of shrub height, density of low and tall shrubs (i.e. shrubs >0.5 m tall), percent of ground cover attributed to shrubs (including dwarf shrubs <0.5 m tall), and percent of herbaceous plant cover in predicting bird abundance. Among 17 species considered, only gray-cheeked thrush (Catharus minimus) abundance was associated with the highest values of all shrub metrics in its top predictive model. All other species either declined in abundance in response to one or more shrub metrics or reached a threshold where further increases in shrubs did not contribute to greater abundance. In many instances the relationship between avian abundance and shrubs was nonlinear, with predicted abundance peaking at moderate values of the covariate, then declining at high values. In particular, a large number of species were responsive to increasing values of average shrub height with six species having highest abundance at near-zero values of shrub height and abundance of four other species decreasing once heights reached moderate values (≤ 33 cm). Our findings suggest that increases in shrub cover and density will negatively affect abundance of only a few bird species and may potentially be beneficial for many others. As shrub height increases further, however, a considerable number of tundra bird species will likely find habitat increasingly unsuitable.

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“…regeneration. However, we do not have sufficient information about the effects of these disturbances on terrestrial salamander population dynamics and habitat use, especially in the Midwestern United States (but see Herbeck and Larsen , Hocking et al ). Considering the potential importance of terrestrial salamanders in ecosystems, it is critical to understand how they respond to disturbances.…”

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confidence: 99%

Prescribed fire and timber harvest effects on terrestrial salamander abundance, detectability, and microhabitat use

2015

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Prescribed fire and timber harvest are anthropogenic disturbances that modify resource availability and ecosystem structure, and can affect wildlife both directly and indirectly. Terrestrial salamanders are effective indicators of forest health due to their high abundance and sensitivity to microclimatic conditions. Given their ecological importance, it is critical to understand how forest salamanders respond to management‐related disturbances. We predicted that timber harvest and prescribed fire would decrease salamander abundance and availability, and increase salamander cover object use. We surveyed for southern red‐backed salamanders (Plethodon serratus) over 9 sampling periods from 2010 to 2014 in a Missouri Ozark (USA) forest, and used binomial mixture models to estimate abundance and detectability in a large‐scale Before‐After, Control‐Impact (BACI) experiment. Five replicate 5‐ha units were randomly assigned to each treatment (prescribed burn, shelterwood harvest, midstory herbicide) and control. We compared abundance, surface activity, detectability, and microhabitat use among treatments. Abundance and surface activity decreased post‐treatment in shelterwood, midstory, and burn units. Abundance estimates in midstory and burn units rebounded in the second post‐treatment year but declined further in shelterwood harvest units. Overall, treatments had stronger effects on salamander availability than on actual abundance. We also found a higher proportion of salamanders under cover objects after prescribed fire, further illustrating the importance of accounting for imperfect detectability. Our findings foster a more robust understanding of the mechanisms underlying population‐level responses to management practices, ultimately increasing our ability to manage terrestrial salamanders effectively. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

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Effects of experimental forest management on a terrestrial, woodland salamander in Missouri

Cited by 39 publications

References 62 publications

Response of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) to Changes in Hemlock Forest Soil Driven by Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae)

Response of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) to Changes in Hemlock Forest Soil Driven by Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae)

When Winners Become Losers: Predicted Nonlinear Responses of Arctic Birds to Increasing Woody Vegetation

Prescribed fire and timber harvest effects on terrestrial salamander abundance, detectability, and microhabitat use

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