Effect of Recreational Trail Traffic Level on Eastern Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon Cinereus) Relative Abundance

Abstract

The effects of roads and trails on terrestrial salamanders, primarily plethodontids, can be important. The abundance of terrestrial salamanders often increases with distance from roads. Less is known about the effects of recreational or hiking trails on terrestrial salamanders than is known about the effects of roads. We explored how low and high traffic trails in a suburban biological reserve affect the relative abundance of Eastern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). We found more salamanders under cover objects next to low traffic trails compared to either high traffic trails or wooded areas without trails. At wooded sites, we found only striped morphs whereas at high traffic sites we found only unstriped morphs. Low traffic sites included a range of color morph frequencies.The proportion of females found in each site did not differ, nor did the mean size of the salamanders. Our results suggest that the impact of recreational walking trails needs to be examined more closely to see how and why the distributions of P. cinereus, and potentially other woodland salamanders, are affected and what trail characteristics are important in driving the apparent effects. Such information will contribute to the design and maintenance of walking trails in natural areas that minimize effects on terrestrial salamanders, and likely other organisms.

First report of Eastern Red-backed Salamander (<i>Plethodon cinereus</i>) on Newfoundland

“…Eastern Red-backed Salamander has a slow dispersal rate (<2 m per year; Ousterhout and Liebgold 2010), only traversing an average of 90 m annually within the home range (Kleeberger and Werner 1982). However, larger, one-off dispersal events have been observed (e.g., 143 m through a forested habitat [Sterrett et al 2015] or 300-500 m through open areas to colonize recently restored habitat [Smith and Smith 2017]). Thus, if this species is able to establish self-sustaining populations, they possess a reasonable capacity to spread elsewhere in the Conception Bay South area and to other localities on Newfoundland.…”

Factors influencing coastal bee communities at Marin Headlands and Point Reyes National Seashore

“…While increasing trail density and accessibility benefits recreational use (Wolf, Roger, and Sheila, 2017), sites with high human accessibility can cause disturbance and stress for wildlife (D'Antonio and Monz, 2016, Larson et al, 2018, Weitowitz et al, 2019. Even moderate trail use can have significant negative impacts on local wildlife abundance (Fleming et al, 2012, Smith et al, 2017. Understanding how to manage human use of coastal habitats while protecting biodiversity is a critical part of coastal management.…”