Suchergebnisse

Forest management practices that mimic natural canopy disturbances, including prescribed fire and timber harvests, may reduce competition and facilitate establishment of favorable vegetative species within various ecosystems. Fire suppression in the central Appalachian region for almost a century has contributed to a transition from oak-dominated to more mesophytic, fire-intolerant forest communities. Prescribed fire coupled with timber removal is currently implemented to aid in oak regeneration and establishment but responses of woodland salamanders to this complex silvicultural system is poorly documented. The purpose of our research was to determine how woodland salamanders respond to shelter-wood harvests following successive burns in a central Appalachian mixed-oak forest. Woodland salamanders were surveyed using coverboard arrays in May, July, and August September 2011 and 2012. Surveys were conducted within fenced shelterwood-burn (prescribed fires, shelterwood harvest, and fencing to prevent white-tailed deer [Odocoileus virginianus] herbivory), shelterwood-burn (prescribed fires and shelterwood harvest), and control plots. Relative abundance was modeled in relation to habitat variables measured within treatments for mountain dusky salamanders (Desmognathus ochrophaeus), slimy salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus), and eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). Mountain dusky salamander relative abundance was positively associated with canopy cover and there were significantly more individuals within controls than either shelterwood-burn or fenced shelterwood-burn treatments. Conversely, habitat variables associated with slimy salamanders and eastern red-backed salamanders did not differ among treatments. Salamander age-class structure within controls did not differ from shelterwood-burn or fenced shelterwood-burn treatments for any species. Overall, the woodland salamander assemblage remained relatively intact throughout the shelterwoodburn silvicultural treatment compared to previous research within the same study area that examined pre-harvest fire effects. However, because of the multi-faceted complexities of this specific silvicultural system, continued research is warranted that evaluates long-term, additive impacts on woodland salamanders within managed central Appalachian deciduous forests. Published by Elsevier B.V. ; USDA Forest Service Northern Research StationUnited States Department of Agriculture (USDA)United States Forest Service; University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point [11-JV-11242301-044] ; We thank Richard Hovatter, Donald Lowther, and Melissa Thomas-Van Gundy for their advice and assistance during the project. We also thank Kurt Moseley, Jessica Orlando, William Fields, Blake Hossack, and one anonymous reviewer for reviewing an earlier draft of this manuscript. Our research was supported financially and logistically by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point through participating agreement #11-JV-11242301-044. All animals were handled according to a West Virginia Division of Natural Resources Scientific Collecting Permit and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee Protocol #20131108. ; Public domain authored by a U.S. government employee