Slow Lives in the Fast Landscape: Conservation and Management of Plethodontid Salamanders in Production Forests of the United States

Homyack, Jessica A.; Kroll, Andrew J.

doi:10.3390/f5112750

Cited by 13 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 105 publications

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“…Otto and others (2013) concluded salamander counts were positively correlated with down woody material based on review of peer-refereed literature on amphibian responses to CWD in managed forests throughout North America. Homyack and Kroll (2014) examined relationships between plethodontid salamanders, intensive forest management, and CWD and found the strength of relationships between plethodontid salamanders and CWD was dependent on species, region (western vs. eastern forests), and spatial scale. For downed wood and canopy cover, effect sizes of the relationships tended to be imprecise (Otto et al 2013), suggesting that other factors affect salamanders.…”

Section: Managing Coarse Woody Debris During Final Harvestmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Intensive forest management results in frequent, consistent forest disturbances that create shifting landscape mosaics of even-aged stands in various stages of succession, interspersed with mature forest stands, roads, forest openings, and other features. While contributing to habitat needs of many terrestrial vertebrate species, frequent disturbances and rapid succession can negatively affect other species, particularly specialists associated with mature forest structural components (e.g., Homyack and Kroll 2014). Other negative consequences include compression of seral stages, lack of mature forest components within intensively managed stands (e.g., snags, large debris, canopy heterogeneity), and creation of edges (Miller et al 2009).…”

Section: Challenges Of Intensively Managed Forest and Conservation Stmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Tamm review: Terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity and intensive forest management in the U.S.

Demarais

Verschuyl

Roloff

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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In the United States, intensively managed forests (IFM) comprise approximately 9% (27.9 million ha) of total forest area. These forests are primarily in highly productive areas and are managed primarily for wood and fiber production. Intensively managed forests provide both opportunities and constraints for conservation of vertebrate biodiversity. However, because a comprehensive review of these opportunities and limitations within the U.S. is lacking, we reviewed effects of typical silvicultural management regimes within IFM on terrestrial vertebrate species. The typical silvicultural regime in IFM includes practices associated with establishing forest management units (stands), weed control, intermediate thinning, and final harvest. Effects of IFM on vertebrate diversity are indirect through habitat modification. Terrestrial vertebrate responses to IFM are species-specific and directly linked to intensity and extent of habitat modification. Shorter crop tree rotations compress successional stages and limit development and recruitment of mature forest structures (e.g., snags, den/roost trees, coarse woody debris). During stand establishment, increased intensification of site preparation and weed control tends to result in lower vertebrate diversity. Generally, vertebrate

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Section: Managing Coarse Woody Debris During Final Harvestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Challenges Of Intensively Managed Forest and Conservation Stmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tamm review: Terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity and intensive forest management in the U.S.

Demarais

Verschuyl

Roloff

et al. 2017

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…). Within managed forests, SMZs may be particularly beneficial to wildlife because, compared to the surrounding landscape, they provide diverse vegetation conditions and microhabitats (e.g., waterbodies, coarse woody debris, snags, tree cavities, rocks, leaf litter; Homyack and Kroll , Warrington et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Differential responses of amphibian and reptile assemblages to size of riparian buffers within managed forests

Guzy

Halloran

Homyack

et al. 2019

Ecological Applications

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2019. Differential responses of amphibian and reptile assemblages to size of riparian buffers within managed forests. Ecological Applications 29(8):Abstract. Streamside management zones (i.e., riparian buffers; SMZs) are commonly implemented within managed forests to protect water quality but may also provide habitat for riparian-associated wildlife. Yet, little research has rigorously addressed the value of SMZs for wildlife, particularly for cryptic species such as amphibians and reptiles. Previous studies of herpetofauna within SMZs have focused on one or a few stream-associated species, and questions remain regarding variation among species or guilds and what role SMZs serve toward conservation of herpetofaunal diversity in managed forests. However, recent statistical advances have improved our ability to analyze large multi-species presence-absence data sets, accounting for low detection rates typical for some herpetofaunal species. Our study represents an extensive landscape-scale examination of herpetofaunal communities within SMZs using a multi-species occupancy approach. We conducted four replicate surveys at 102 headwater streams, spanning a gradient of SMZ widths and adjacent forest stand ages, within the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas, USA. We used a hierarchical Bayesian community occupancy model to estimate species richness and species-specific occupancy responses to SMZ and overstory characteristics, accounting for variation in occupancy and detection attributable to site and sampling covariates. We documented high richness (37 species) within SMZs. Across the herpetofaunal community, occupancy and species richness were consistently positively associated with SMZ width, with maximum predicted richness of 30 species occurring at sites with buffers extending 51 m on either side of the stream. However, we documented considerable variation among groups and species within groups, underscoring the potential for different responses to forest management among taxa. Reptile predicted richness increased more rapidly up to SMZs of~35 m, whereas maximum salamander predicted richness was not seen until an SMZ width of 55 m. Estimated salamander richness was highest within SMZs embedded in mature managed pine stands and was higher in SMZs comprised of a deciduous or mixed overstory vs. a pine overstory. Compared to salamanders, more anuran species showed high mean estimated occupancy (>75%) at narrower SMZs (<30 m). Collectively, our results indicate that SMZs surrounding small first-order streams in intensively managed forests not only protect water quality, but also can support diverse amphibian and reptile communities.

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“…Intensive Forest Management (IFM) produces more wood biomass per unit area than natural forests and provides more land for biodiversity conservation (Sedjo 1999;Edwards et al 2014). However, negative effects of intensification, such as conversion from native forest types, fragmentation at stand and watershed scales, and species loss associated with the intensive practices themselves, may counteract benefits accrued by constraining area under management (Tittler, Messier & Fall 2012;Linden & Roloff 2013;Homyack & Kroll 2014). Given the prominent role of intensification in meeting global demand for forest products (Meyfroidt & Lambin 2011), experimental evaluations of IFM effects on biodiversity and other ecosystem services are of critical importance (Bennett, Peterson & Gordon 2009;Mace, Norris & Fitter 2012;Root & Betts 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assembly dynamics of a forest bird community depend on disturbance intensity and foraging guild

Kroll

Verschuyl

Giovanini

et al. 2016

Journal of Applied Ecology

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Summary Tree plantations occur globally and are often promoted as a strategy to supply wood products for an expanding human population while reducing pressure on natural forests. Herbicides can accelerate growth of crop trees by suppressing competing vegetation, but little information is available about potential trade‐offs with early seral biodiversity resulting from more intensive management. Using data collected over 5 years immediately following stand‐replacing disturbance (clear‐felling), we used a large‐scale experiment to test how environmental filtering influences dynamics of avian community assembly. We evaluated avian responses to three levels of plant cover reduction (light, moderate and intensive herbicide applications) in relation to a control without herbicide. Under the environmental filtering hypothesis, we expected reduced avian species richness and higher turnover as broadleaf plant cover decreases with increasing management intensity. We predicted that the most intensive treatments would exert strong negative effects on leaf‐gleaning insectivores, including several species of conservation concern due to long‐term population declines. Richness of leaf‐gleaning bird species was reduced by 23–52% over the 5 years on moderate (standard practice) vs. control treatments, but effects were substantially smaller for the non‐leaf‐gleaner guild in years 1–4 (8–25%) and disappeared by year 5 (0%). Both leaf‐gleaner and non‐leaf‐gleaner functional groups continued to colonize moderate and intensive treatments at higher probabilities than the control in Year 5 (range: 0·17–0·29), likely due to rapid vegetation recovery after herbicide applications ceased. Planted conifers were >35% taller and >70% larger in diameter in the two most intensive treatments, leading to substantially more wood volume produced per unit area than on stands without herbicide applications. Synthesis and applications. Under current management regimes, stand‐level trade‐offs between conservation of avian diversity and production of wood commodities may be less severe than previously recognized. However, in landscapes where biodiversity conservation rather than wood production is the primary goal, managers can adjust the trade‐off by making relatively small reductions in herbicide use that should have positive impacts on richness of leaf‐gleaning insectivorous birds.

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Slow Lives in the Fast Landscape: Conservation and Management of Plethodontid Salamanders in Production Forests of the United States

Cited by 13 publications

References 105 publications

Tamm review: Terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity and intensive forest management in the U.S.

Tamm review: Terrestrial vertebrate biodiversity and intensive forest management in the U.S.

Differential responses of amphibian and reptile assemblages to size of riparian buffers within managed forests

Assembly dynamics of a forest bird community depend on disturbance intensity and foraging guild

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