Short-term responses of plethodontid salamanders to the restoration of prescribed fire within the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory. Head, L. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia, 2020. abstract bibtex Fire is an important natural disturbance event that shapes vegetation and animal communities throughout the United States, however historical fire suppression has led to changes in vegetation structure that include increased mid and understory vegetation that can contribute to more intense wildfires. As prescribed fire is increasingly being utilized as a management tool to restore the southern Appalachians and reduce wildfire risk, populations of regionally abundant and diverse species that are more dependent on current vegetation structure may be experiencing associated population shifts. Human alteration of fire regimes in this region coupled with a changing climate may be causing associated declines in species such as terrestrial salamanders in the family Plethodontidae that are likely to be disproportionately affected by fire disturbances due to their lungless anatomy and reliance on cool moist microhabitats. We monitored microhabitat usage as well as short term age specific salamander abundance before and after a prescribed burn in the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory located in Otto, North Carolina by using body size measurements and documenting microhabitat during repeated count surveys. We also developed a novel means of incorporating vegetation influence on detection probability of salamanders that were incorporated into our abundance models. We observed notable declines in abundance of all age classes as a result of the prescribed burn as well as shifts in burrow occupancy as a result of the burn by plethodontid salamanders. We were also successfully able to incorporate variations in detection as a result of burning conditions into our abundance estimates. Our results suggest that prescribed burns, coupled with shifts in abiotic factors such as vapor pressure, may be causing associated decreases in surface activity, shifts in microhabitat use as a result of stress, and declines in abundance of plethodontid salamanders. These results reinforce the need to continue to monitor the impacts of fire management and associated disturbance on terrestrial salamander populations.
@phdthesis{head_short-term_2020,
address = {Athens, Georgia},
type = {Senior {Thesis}},
title = {Short-term responses of plethodontid salamanders to the restoration of prescribed fire within the {Coweeta} {Hydrologic} {Laboratory}},
abstract = {Fire is an important natural disturbance event that shapes vegetation and animal communities throughout the United States, however historical fire suppression has led to changes in vegetation structure that include increased mid and understory vegetation that can contribute to more intense wildfires. As prescribed fire is increasingly being utilized as a management tool to restore the southern Appalachians and reduce wildfire risk, populations of regionally abundant and diverse species that are more dependent on current vegetation structure may be experiencing associated population shifts. Human alteration of fire regimes in this region coupled with a changing climate may be causing associated declines in species such as terrestrial salamanders in the family Plethodontidae that are likely to be disproportionately affected by fire disturbances due to their lungless anatomy and reliance on cool moist microhabitats. We monitored microhabitat usage as well as short term age specific salamander abundance before and after a prescribed burn in the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory located in Otto, North Carolina by using body size measurements and documenting microhabitat during repeated count surveys. We also developed a novel means of incorporating vegetation influence on detection probability of salamanders that were incorporated into our abundance models. We observed notable declines in abundance of all age classes as a result of the prescribed burn as well as shifts in burrow occupancy as a result of the burn by plethodontid salamanders. We were also successfully able to incorporate variations in detection as a result of burning conditions into our abundance estimates. Our results suggest that prescribed burns, coupled with shifts in abiotic factors such as vapor pressure, may be causing associated decreases in surface activity, shifts in microhabitat use as a result of stress, and declines in abundance of plethodontid salamanders. These results reinforce the need to continue to monitor the impacts of fire management and associated disturbance on terrestrial salamander populations.},
language = {en},
school = {University of Georgia},
author = {Head, Lauren},
year = {2020},
}
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As prescribed fire is increasingly being utilized as a management tool to restore the southern Appalachians and reduce wildfire risk, populations of regionally abundant and diverse species that are more dependent on current vegetation structure may be experiencing associated population shifts. Human alteration of fire regimes in this region coupled with a changing climate may be causing associated declines in species such as terrestrial salamanders in the family Plethodontidae that are likely to be disproportionately affected by fire disturbances due to their lungless anatomy and reliance on cool moist microhabitats. We monitored microhabitat usage as well as short term age specific salamander abundance before and after a prescribed burn in the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory located in Otto, North Carolina by using body size measurements and documenting microhabitat during repeated count surveys. We also developed a novel means of incorporating vegetation influence on detection probability of salamanders that were incorporated into our abundance models. We observed notable declines in abundance of all age classes as a result of the prescribed burn as well as shifts in burrow occupancy as a result of the burn by plethodontid salamanders. We were also successfully able to incorporate variations in detection as a result of burning conditions into our abundance estimates. Our results suggest that prescribed burns, coupled with shifts in abiotic factors such as vapor pressure, may be causing associated decreases in surface activity, shifts in microhabitat use as a result of stress, and declines in abundance of plethodontid salamanders. These results reinforce the need to continue to monitor the impacts of fire management and associated disturbance on terrestrial salamander populations.","language":"en","school":"University of Georgia","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Head"],"firstnames":["Lauren"],"suffixes":[]}],"year":"2020","bibtex":"@phdthesis{head_short-term_2020,\n\taddress = {Athens, Georgia},\n\ttype = {Senior {Thesis}},\n\ttitle = {Short-term responses of plethodontid salamanders to the restoration of prescribed fire within the {Coweeta} {Hydrologic} {Laboratory}},\n\tabstract = {Fire is an important natural disturbance event that shapes vegetation and animal communities throughout the United States, however historical fire suppression has led to changes in vegetation structure that include increased mid and understory vegetation that can contribute to more intense wildfires. 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We also developed a novel means of incorporating vegetation influence on detection probability of salamanders that were incorporated into our abundance models. We observed notable declines in abundance of all age classes as a result of the prescribed burn as well as shifts in burrow occupancy as a result of the burn by plethodontid salamanders. We were also successfully able to incorporate variations in detection as a result of burning conditions into our abundance estimates. Our results suggest that prescribed burns, coupled with shifts in abiotic factors such as vapor pressure, may be causing associated decreases in surface activity, shifts in microhabitat use as a result of stress, and declines in abundance of plethodontid salamanders. 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