气候变化领域集成服务门户(CCPortal): Influence of prescribed fire and forest structure on woodland salamander abundance in the central Appalachians, USA

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DOI	10.1016/j.foreco.2020.118185
	Influence of prescribed fire and forest structure on woodland salamander abundance in the central Appalachians, USA
	Jacobsen C.D.; Brown D.J.; Flint W.D.; Schuler J.L.; Schuler T.M.
发表日期	2020
ISSN	0378-1127
卷号	468
英文摘要	Prescribed fire is used in the central Appalachians to promote and maintain mixed-oak and pine forests, create open forest conditions, improve habitat for wildlife, and to reduce the risk of impact of higher intensity wildfires on human development. Few studies have investigated responses of terrestrial salamander populations to habitat management using fire, and estimated responses have been neutral, negative, and positive depending on geography, species, and fire-severity. We examined woodland salamander (genus Plethodon) population responses to habitat management using prescribed fire on Shenandoah Mountain in the George Washington National Forest in West Virginia and Virginia, USA. We focused on responses of the Cow Knob Salamander (P. punctatus), a talus specialist and species of high conservation concern, but also examined responses of the Eastern Red-Backed Salamander (P. cinereus), a widespread habitat generalist. Three burn units were subjected to two low-severity burns and one unit was burned five times with ca. 40% tree mortality. Using a combination of nighttime visual encounter surveys and coverboard surveys, we compared terrestrial salamander abundance and body condition in unburned and burned areas. We also measured habitat characteristics at sampling sites to determine if prescribed burn histories were correlated with habitat conditions important to woodland salamanders. Mean abundance for P. punctatus was lower at sites that were burned, but there was not a strong burn effect for P. cinereus. Abundance of both species was positively correlated with canopy cover. Mean and median body condition index (BCI) score was higher for P. punctatus and lower for P. cinereus on the West Virginia side of Shenandoah Mountain, and lower in burned areas for both species. However, the most parsimonious BCI models did not contain the burn predictor. Management using prescribed fire altered microhabitat conditions that are important for woodland salamanders, such as canopy cover, leaf litter depth, and vegetation groundcover. Our study suggests that woodland salamanders in the central Appalachians can persist in forests managed using prescribed fire, but also indicates that prescribed fire can result in reduced habitat quality for some woodland salamander species. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.
英文关键词	Amphibian; Cow Knob Salamander; George Washington National Forest; Habitat Management; Plethodon
语种	英语
scopus关键词	Conservation; Ecosystems; Fires; Importance sampling; Surveys; Forest structure; Habitat conditions; Habitat management; Human development; National forests; Prescribed burn; Prescribed fires; Visual encounters; Forestry; abundance; body condition; coniferous forest; deciduous forest; ecosystem structure; generalist; habitat management; habitat quality; microhabitat; prescribed burning; reptile; wildfire; woodland; Conservation; Coverings; Ecosystems; Fires; Forestry; Management; Surveys; West Virginia; Appalachians; George Washington National Forest; United States; West Virginia; Amphibia; Plethodon; Plethodon cinereus; Plethodon punctatus; Salamandroidea
来源期刊	Forest Ecology and Management
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://gcip.llas.ac.cn/handle/2XKMVOVA/155234
作者单位	School of Natural Resources, West Virginia University, 322 Percival Hall, Morgantown, WV 26506, United States; U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station, PO Box 404, Parsons, WV 26287, United States; Department of Biology, James Madison University, MSC 7801, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, United States; U.S. Forest Service, 201 14 Street, SW Mailstop 1115, Washington, DC, 20250, United States
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Jacobsen C.D.,Brown D.J.,Flint W.D.,et al. Influence of prescribed fire and forest structure on woodland salamander abundance in the central Appalachians, USA[J],2020,468.
APA	Jacobsen C.D.,Brown D.J.,Flint W.D.,Schuler J.L.,&Schuler T.M..(2020).Influence of prescribed fire and forest structure on woodland salamander abundance in the central Appalachians, USA.Forest Ecology and Management,468.
MLA	Jacobsen C.D.,et al."Influence of prescribed fire and forest structure on woodland salamander abundance in the central Appalachians, USA".Forest Ecology and Management 468(2020).