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

Journal of Wildlife Management

Volumn 79, Issue 5, 2015, Pages 766-775

  O'Donnell, Katherine M ^a,c   Thompson, Frank R ^b   Semlitsch, Raymond D ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI   (United States)

^b USDA FOREST SERVICE   (United States)

^c U S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY   (United States)

Author keywords

amphibian; forest management; hierarchical model; Missouri; N mixture model; oak regeneration; Ozarks; partial harvest; Plethodon serratus; shelterwood

Indexed keywords

ABUNDANCE; AMPHIBIAN; ANTHROPOGENIC EFFECT; ECOSYSTEM STRUCTURE; FOREST HEALTH; FOREST MANAGEMENT; HABITAT USE; MICROCLIMATE; MICROHABITAT; POPULATION ESTIMATION; PRESCRIBED BURNING; REGENERATION; RESOURCE AVAILABILITY; TIMBER HARVESTING;

ARKANSAS; MISSOURI; OZARK NATIONAL FOREST; UNITED STATES;

AMPHIBIA; PLETHODON SERRATUS; SALAMANDROIDEA;

EID: 84932197118     PISSN: 0022541X     EISSN: 19372817     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1002/jwmg.884     Document Type: Article

References (77)

1. Ash, A. N., and, R. C. Bruce,. 1994. Impacts of timber harvesting on salamanders. Conservation Biology 8: 300-301.
2. Bailey, L. L., T. R. Simons, and, K. H. Pollock,. 2004. Spatial and temporal variation in detection probabilty of Plethodon salamanders using the robust capture-recapture design. Journal of Wildlife Management 68: 14-24.
3. Bendell, J. F., 1974. Effects of fire on birds and mammals. Pages 73-138 in, T. T. Kozlowski, editor. Fire and ecosystems. Academic Press, New York, New York, USA.
4. Best, M. L., and, H. H. Welsh, Jr., 2014. The trophic role of a forest salamander: impacts on invertebrates, leaf litter retention, and the humification process. Ecosphere 5: 16.
5. Brose, P. H., D. Van Lear, and, R. Cooper,. 1999. Using shelterwood harvests and prescribed fire to regenerate oak stands on productive upland sites. Forest Ecology and Management 113: 125-141.
6. Burton, T. M., and, G. E. Likens,. 1975. Energy flow and nutrient cycling in salamander populations in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, New Hampshire. Ecology 56: 1068-1080.
7. Bury, R. B., D. Major, and, D. S. Pilliod,. 2002. Responses of amphibians to fire disturbance in Pacific Northwest forests: a review. Pages 34-42 in, W. M. Ford, K. R. Russell, and, C. E. Moorman, editors. The role of fire in nongame wildlife management and community restoration: traditional uses and new directions: proceedings of a special workshop. GTR NE-288. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA.
8. Chelgren, N. D., M. J. Adams, L. L. Bailey, and, R. B. Bury,. 2011. Using multilevel spatial models to understand salamander site occupancy patterns after wildfire. Ecology 92: 408-21.
9. Connette, G. M., and, R. D. Semlitsch,. 2013. Life history as a predictor of salamander recovery rate from timber harvest in southern Appalachian forests, USA. Conservation Biology 27: 1399-1409.
10. Cummer, M. R., and, C. W. Painter,. 2007. Three case studies of the effect of wildfire on the Jemez Mountains salamander (Plethodon neomexicanus): microhabitat temperatures, size distributions, and a historical locality perspective. Southwestern Naturalist 52: 26-37.
11. Davic, R. D., and, H. H. Welsh,. 2004. On the ecological roles of salamanders. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 35: 405-434.
12. DeMaynadier, P. G., and, M. L. Hunter Jr., 1995. The relationship between forest management and amphibian ecology: a review of the North American literature. Environmental Reviews 3: 230-261.
13. Feder, M. E., 1983. Integrating the ecology and physiology of plethodontid salamanders. Herpetologica 39: 291-310.
14. Ford, W. M., M. Menzel, and, D. McGill,. 1999. Effects of a community restoration fire on small mammals and herpetofauna in the southern Appalachians. Forest Ecology and Management 114: 233-243.
15. Ford, W. M., J. L. Rodrigue, E. L. Rowan, S. B. Castleberry, and, T. M. Schuler,. 2010. Woodland salamander response to two prescribed fires in the central Appalachians. Forest Ecology and Management 260: 1003-1009.
16. Fraser, D. F., 1976. Empirical evaluation of the hypothesis of food competition in salamanders of the genus Plethodon. Ecology 57: 459-471.
17. Gatz, R. N., E. C. Crawford Jr, and, J. Piiper,. 1975. Kinetics of inert gas equilibration in an exclusively skin-breathing salamander, Desmognathus fuscus. Respiration Physiology 24: 15-29.
18. Gelman, A., and, J. Hill,. 2007. Data analysis using regression and multilevel/hierarchical models. First edition. Cambridge University Press, New York, New York, USA.
19. Gifford, M. E., and, K. H. Kozak,. 2012. Islands in the sky or squeezed at the top? Ecological causes of elevational range limits in montane salamanders. Ecography 35: 193-203.
20. Greenberg, C. H., and, T. A. Waldrop,. 2008. Short-term response of reptiles and amphibians to prescribed fire and mechanical fuel reduction in a southern Appalachian upland hardwood forest. Forest Ecology and Management 255: 2883-2893.
21. Hanberry, B. B., J. M. Kabrick, and, H. S. He,. 2013. Densification and state transition across the Missouri Ozarks landscape. Ecosystems 17: 66-81.
22. Harmon, M. E., J. F. Franklin, F. J. Swanson, P. Sollins, S. V. Gregory, J. D. Lattin, N. H. Anderson, S. P. Cline, N. G. Aumen, J. R. Sedell, G. W. Lienkaemper, K. Cromack, and, K. W. Cummins,. 1986. Ecology of coarse woody debris in temperate ecosystems. Advances in Ecological Research 15: 133-302.
23. Harpole, D. N., and, C. A. Haas,. 1999. Effects of seven silvicultural treatments on terrestrial salamanders. Forest Ecology and Management 114: 349-356.
24. Herbeck, L. A., and, D. R. Larsen,. 1999. Plethodontid salamander response to silvicultural practices in Missouri Ozark forests. Conservation Biology 13: 623-632.
25. Hocking, D. J., G. M. Connette, C. A. Conner, B. R. Scheffers, S. E. Pittman, W. E. Peterman, and, R. D. Semlitsch,. 2013. Effects of experimental forest management on a terrestrial, woodland salamander in Missouri. Forest Ecology and Management 287: 32-39.
26. Homyack, J. A., and, C. A. Haas,. 2009. Long-term effects of experimental forest harvesting on abundance and reproductive demography of terrestrial salamanders. Biological Conservation 142: 110-121.
27. Homyack, J. A., and, C. A. Haas,. 2013. Effects of repeated-stand entries on terrestrial salamanders and their habitat. Southeastern Naturalist 12: 353-366.
28. Homyack, J. A., C. A. Haas, and, W. A. Hopkins,. 2011. Energetics of surface-active terrestrial salamanders in experimentally harvested forest. Journal of Wildlife Management 75: 1267-1278.
29. Hossack, B. R., and, P. S. Corn,. 2007. Responses of pond-breeding amphibians to wildfire: Short-term patterns in occupancy and colonization. Ecological Applications 17: 1403-1410.
30. Hossack, B. R., W. H. Lowe, and, P. S. Corn,. 2013. Rapid increases and time-lagged declines in amphibian occupancy after wildfire. Conservation Biology 27: 219-28.
31. Hossack, B. R., and, D. S. Pilliod,. 2011. Amphibian responses to wildfire in the western United States: emerging patterns from short-term studies. Fire Ecology 7: 129-144.
32. Jaeger, R. G., 1980. Microhabitats of a terrestrial forest salamander. Copeia 1980: 265-268.
33. Johnston, B., and, L. Frid,. 2002. Clearcut logging restricts the movements of terrestrial Pacific giant salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus Good). Canadian Journal of Zoology 80: 2170-2177.
34. Kabrick, J. M., J. L. Villwock, D. C. Dey, T. L. Keyser, and, D. R. Larsen,. 2014. Modeling and mapping oak advance reproduction density using soil and site variables. Forest Science 60: 1107-1117.
35. Karr, J. R., and, K. E. Freemark,. 1985. Disturbance and vertebrates: an integrative perspective. Pages 153-168 in, S. T. A. Pickett, and, P. S. White, editors. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida, USA.
36. Kéry, M., and, M. Schaub,. 2012. Bayesian population analysis using WinBUGS: a hierarchical perspective. Academic Press, New York, New York, USA.
37. Keyser, P., D. Sausville, W. M. Ford, D. J. Schwab, and, P. H. Brose,. 2004. Prescribed fire impacts to amphibians and reptiles in shelterwood-harvest oak-dominated forests. Virginia Journal of Science 55: 159-168.
38. Kleeberger, S., and, J. Werner,. 1982. Home range and homing behavior of Plethodon cinereus in northern Michigan. Copeia 1982: 409-415.
39. Kluber, M. R., D. H. Olson, and, K. J. Puettmann,. 2009. Downed wood microclimates and their potential impact on plethodontid salamander habitat in the Oregon Coast Range. Northwest Science 83: 25-34.
40. Loftis, D. L., 1990. A shelterwood method for regenerating red oak in the southern Appalachians. Forest Science 36: 917-929.
41. Lyon, L. J., H. S. Crawford, E. Czuhai, R. L. Fredriksen, R. F. Harlow, L. J. Metz, and, H. A. Pearson,. 1978. Effects of fire on fauna: a state of knowledge review. USDA Forest Service National Fire Effects Workshop. USDA Forest Service. Gen. Tech. Rept. WO-6, 10-14 April 1978, Denver, Colorado, USA.
42. Lyon, L. J., M. Huff, E. Telfer, D. S. Schreiner, and, J. K. Smith,. 2000. Fire effects on animal populations. Pages 25-34 in, J. K. Smith, editor. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on fauna. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Ogden, Utah, USA.
43. Major, D., 2005. Effects of fire disturbance on terrestrial salamanders in mixed-coniferous forests of the Klamath/Siskiyou region of the Pacific Northwest. Dissertation, Utah State University, Logan, USA.
44. Matthews, C. E., C. E. Moorman, C. H. Greenberg, and, T. A. Waldrop,. 2010. Response of reptiles and amphibians to repeated fuel reduction treatments. Journal of Wildlife Management 74: 1301-1310.
45. McKenny, H. C., W. S. Keeton, and, T. M. Donovan,. 2006. Effects of structural complexity enhancement on eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) populations in northern hardwood forests. Forest Ecology and Management 230: 186-196.
46. Moseley, K., S. Castleberry, and, S. Schweitzer,. 2003. Effects of prescribed fire on herpetofauna in bottomland hardwood forests. Southeastern Naturalist 2: 475-486.
47. Nigh, T. A., and, W. A. Schroeder,. 2002. Atlas of Missouri ecoregions. Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City, USA.
48. Nowacki, G., and, M. Abrams,. 2008. The demise of fire and "mesophication" of forests in the eastern United States. BioScience 58: 123-138.
49. O'Donnell, K. M., F. R. Thompson, III, and, R. D. Semlitsch,. 2014. Predicting variation in microhabitat utilization of terrestrial salamanders. Herpetologica 70: 259-265.
50. O'Donnell, K. M., F. R. Thompson, III, and, R. D. Semlitsch,. 2015. Partitioning detectability components in populations subject to within-season temporary emigration using binomial mixture models. PloS One 10 (3): e0117216.
51. Ousterhout, B. H., and, E. B. Liebgold,. 2010. Dispersal versus site tenacity of adult and juvenile red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus). Herpetologica 66: 269-275.
52. Pausas, J. G., and, J. E. Keeley,. 2014. Abrupt climate-independent fire regime changes. Ecosystems 17: 1109-1120.
53. Peterman, W. E., J. A. Crawford, and, R. D. Semlitsch,. 2011. Effects of even-aged timber harvest on stream salamanders: support for the evacuation hypothesis. Forest Ecology and Management 262: 2344-2353.
54. Peterman, W. E., and, R. D. Semlitsch,. 2014. Spatial variation in water loss predicts terrestrial salamander distribution and population dynamics. Oecologia 176: 357-369.
55. Petranka, J. W., M. P. Brannon, M. E. Hopey, and, C. K. Smith,. 1994. Effects of timber harvesting on low elevation populations of southern Appalachian salamanders. Forest Ecology and Management 67: 135-147.
56. Petranka, J. W., M. E. Eldridge, and, K. E. Haley,. 1993. Effects of timber harvesting on southern Appalachian salamanders. Conservation Biology 7: 363-370.
57. Petranka, J. W., and, S. S. Murray,. 2001. Effectiveness of removal sampling for determining salamander density and biomass: a case study in an Appalachian streamside community. Journal of Herpetology 35: 36-44.
58. Pickett, S. T. A., and, P. S. White,. 1985. Patch dynamics: a synthesis. Pages 371-384 in, S. T. A. Pickett, and, P. S. White, editors. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida, USA.
59. Pilliod, D. S., R. B. Bury, E. J. Hyde, C. A. Pearl, and, P. S. Corn,. 2003. Fire and amphibians in North America. Forest Ecology and Management 178: 163-181.
60. Plummer, M., 2003. JAGS: a program for analysis of Bayesian graphical models using Gibbs sampling. Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on Distributed Statistical Computing (DSC 2003), Vienna, Austria.
61. Pyne, S. J., P. L. Andrews, and, R. D. Laven,. 1996. Introduction to wildland fire. Second edition. Wiley, New York, New York, USA.
62. Renken, R. B., 2006. Does fire affect amphibians and reptiles in eastern US oak forests? Pages 158-166 in Proceedings of Fire in Eastern Oak Forests: Delivering Science to Land Managers. M. B. Dickinson, editor. U.S. Forest Service General Technical Report NRS-P-1, Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, USA.
63. Rittenhouse, T. A. G., E. B. Harper, L. Rehard, and, R. D. Semlitsch,. 2008. The role of microhabitats in the desiccation and survival of anurans in recently harvested oak-hickory forest. Copeia 2008: 807-814.
64. Russell, K., D. Van Lear, and, D. Guynn,. 1999. Prescribed fire effects on herpetofauna: review and management implications. Wildlife Society Bulletin 27: 374-384.
65. Schurbon, J. M., and, J. E. Fauth,. 2003. Effects of prescribed burning on amphibian diversity in a southeastern U.S. National Forest. Conservation Biology 17: 1338-1349.
66. Semlitsch, R. D., C. A. Conner, D. J. Hocking, T. A. G. Rittenhouse, and, E. B. Harper,. 2008. Effects of timber harvesting on pond-breeding amphibian persistence: testing the evacuation hypothesis. Ecological Applications 18: 283-289.
67. Semlitsch, R. D., K. M. O'Donnell, and, F. R. Thompson III,. 2014. Abundance, biomass production, nutrient content, and the possible role of terrestrial salamanders in Missouri Ozark forest ecosystems. Canadian Journal of Zoology 92: 997-1004.
68. Semlitsch, R. D., B. D. Todd, S. M. Blomquist, A. J. K. Calhoun, J. W. Gibbons, J. P. Gibbs, G. J. Graeter, E. B. Harper, D. J. Hocking, M. L. Hunter Jr, D. A. Patrick, T. A. G. Rittenhouse, and, B. B. Rothermel,. 2009. Effects of timber harvest on amphibian populations: understanding mechanisms from forest experiments. BioScience 59: 853-862.
69. Spotila, J. R., 1972. Role of temperature and water in the ecology of lungless salamanders. Ecological Monographs 42: 95-125.
70. Sutton, W. B., Y. Wang, C. J. Schweitzer, and, D. A. Steen,. 2014. Lizard microhabitat and microclimate relationships in southeastern pine-hardwood forests managed with prescribed burning and thinning. Forest Science 60: 180-190.
71. Taub, F., 1961. The distribution of the red-backed salamander, Plethodon c. cinereus, within the soil. Ecology 42: 681-698.
72. Tilghman, J. M., S. W. Ramee, and, D. M. Marsh,. 2012. Meta-analysis of the effects of canopy removal on terrestrial salamander populations in North America. Biological Conservation 152: 1-9.
73. Walton, B. M., 2013. Top-down regulation of litter invertebrates by a terrestrial salamander. Herpetologica 69: 127-146.
74. Welsh, H. H., Jr., and, S. Droege,. 2001. A case for using plethodontid salamanders for monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem integrity of North American forests. Conservation Biology 15: 558-569.
75. Welsh, H. H., Jr., and, G. R. Hodgson,. 2013. Woodland salamanders as metrics of forest ecosystem recovery: a case study from California's redwoods. Ecosphere 4: 59.
76. White, P. S., and, S. T. A. Pickett,. 1985. Natural disturbance and patch dynamics: an introduction. Pages 3-13 in, S. T. A. Pickett, and, P. S. White, editors. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida, USA.
77. Wyman, R. L., 1998. Experimental assessment of salamanders as predators of detrital food webs: effects on invertebrates, decomposition and the carbon cycle. Biodiversity & Conservation 7: 641-650.