Impact of Fire on Small Mammals and Amphibians in a Central Appalachian Deciduous Forest

Abstract

-The impact of fire on small mammals and amphibians was investigated in an oak (Quercus spp.)-dominated forest in S-central Pennsylvania. Sampling with Y-shaped arrays of pitfalls and drift fences was conducted for 78 days between 31 March and 13 November 1992 following a fire in November 1991. Shrews, rodents and total small mammals were significantly less abundant in burned than in unburned forest; however, significant differences between habitats were recorded only for the 1st 3 sampling periods (April, June, July) for rodents and total small mammals. Eight species of small mammals were captured in unburned forest compared to six species in burned areas. The two species not taken in the burned forest were both arvicoline rodents, the meadow vole (Microtus pennsylvanicus) and southern red-backed vole (Clethrionomys gapper). A significant correlation was found between the rank order of species of small mammals taken in burned and unburned habitats. The two most abundant species in both habitats were the white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) and Maryland shrew (Sorex fontinalis), which combined comprised 78.1% of the small mammals taken in the unburned forest and 72.4% of the sample from the burned site. In contrast to small mammals, significantly more amphibians were captured in the burned forest. The American toad (Bufo americanus) was the most abundant amphibian, comprising 70.8% of the amphibians captured; this species was largely responsible for the greater numbers of amphibians captured in the burned forest.