Initial Effects of Clearcutting and Alternative Silvicultural Practices on Terrestrial Salamander Abundance

Abstract

Abstract: Several studies have demonstrated the negative effects of clearcutting on terrestrial plethodontid salamander populations. However, none has experimentally compared clearcutting with multiple alternative timber‐harvest methods. Using a randomized, replicated design, we compared the short‐term effects ( 1–4 years after harvest ) of clearcutting to effects of leavetree, group selection, and two shelterwood cuts on terrestrial salamanders in the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia and West Virginia ( U.S.A. ). Treatment plots were 2 ha each. We also compared salamander age class ( percent juvenile ), fecundity ( percentage of females carrying eggs and average number of eggs per gravid female ), size of gravid females, and species composition and diversity between treatments with canopy removal ( cut ) and those without canopy removal ( uncut ). All treatments with canopy removal had significantly fewer salamanders than the control treatment, but salamander abundances on alternative treatments with canopy removal did not differ significantly from salamander abundances on the clearcuts. There were no significant differences between cut and uncut treatments in the proportion of females that were gravid or in the average number of eggs in gravid females; however, gravid Plethodon cinereus females weighed more on the cut treatments and gravid Desmognathus ochrophaeus females weighed more on uncut treatments. There were no significant differences between cut and uncut treatments in the proportion of the sample that was juvenile, except in the largest species tested, P. glutinosus, which had a significantly higher proportion of juveniles in the uncut treatments. We conclude that initial declines in terrestrial plethodontid abundance caused by timber harvesting may be minimized across the landscape by concentrating high‐intensity timber harvesting ( clearcutting ) in small areas ( a few hectares in size ).