Stand age and habitat influences on salamanders in Appalachian cove hardwood forests

Abstract

We surveyed cove hardwood stands aged 15, 25, 50, and 285 years following clearcutting in the southern Appalachian Mountains of northem Georgia to assess the effects of stand age and stand habitat characteristics on salamander communities using drift-fence array and pitfall methodologies from May 1994 to April 1995. Over a 60,060 pitfall trapnight effort, we collected 3937 salamanders represented by Desmognathus aeneus, Desmognathus mtznticola, Desmognathus ocoee, Ilesmognathus quadramaculatus, Eurycea bislineata, Gyrinophilus porphyriticus, Pseudotriton ruber, Pkthodon glutinosus, Plethodon serratus, and Notophtlaalmus viridescens. Analysis of covariance with pitfall array to stream distance as the covariate showed that salamander species richness and diversity measures and numbers of Desmognathus aeneus and Desmognathus ocoee were highest in stands 285 years. Eutyeea bislineata and Plethodon glutinosus were more abundant in stands 250 years old than in stands 285 years. Within cove hardwood stands, species richness and diversity measures and relative abundances of Desmogmthus spp. and Gyrinophilus porphyriticus were negatively correlated with distance to stream. Species richness and diversity were positively correlated to mounts of emergent rock. Species richness, diversity and relative abundances of Desmognathus spp. were correlated with basal area within stands and extent of connected mesic, cove hardwood habitat and amount of cove habitat within 1 km radius among stands. Eurycea bislineata was negatively correlated with landfom index, a measure of surrounding landfom sheltering, and Plethodon glutinasus was positively correlated with elevation in cove hardwood stands. Our research indicates stand age is an important factor in explaining the abundance and community composition of salamanders in southern Appalachian cove hardwood communities. Because southern Appalachian woodland salamander communities are slow to recover and are substantially changed following disturbances such as clearcutting, populations in small, isolated cove hardwood stands might be more vulnerable to extirpation or may require longer recovery times than those in larger coves. Managers may need to assess habilat features such as cove extent and habitat connectivity to minimize impacts on these taxa by forest management activities in southern Appalachian cove hardwood communities. Published by Elsevier Science B.V.

Forestry Best Management Practices Relationships with Aquatic and Riparian Fauna: A Review

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Effects of microhabitat and large-scale land use on stream salamander occupancy in the coalfields of Central Appalachia

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Woodland salamanders as metrics of forest ecosystem recovery: a case study from California's redwoods

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