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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2014

  • Title: Life Under A Log: How is the Eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) affected by the abundance of deadwood in hemlock and hardwood forests?
  • Author: Claudia Villar-Leeman (Bowdoin College)
  • Abstract:

    The abundant Eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus; RBS) is critical to nutrient cycling in North American hemlock forests. Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) forests have recently been fatally colonized by the invasive woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae), prompting many landowners to pre-emptively harvest their hemlocks. This practice may have consequences on RBS abundance and distribution, as RBS abundance is associated with high densities of cover objects such as downed woody debris (DWD). This study analyzed RBS abundance in relation to volume, size, and decay of DWD across disturbed and non-disturbed hemlock and hardwood plots. We expected to find more RBS under bigger pieces of DWD and in transects with greater volumes of DWD. RBS abundances under Artificial Cover Objects (ACOs) in 2005, 2013 and 2014 were analyzed with DWD data from corresponding years across Harvard Forest Hemlock Removal Experiment (HF-HeRE) logged, girdled and control plots in the Simes Tract. To directly evaluate RBS use of DWD, two hardwood and two hemlock forest plots were established nearby. Along three 30m line transects in each plot, deadwood was measured and RBS use of DWD cover evaluated with biweekly surveys of RBS presence, size, life stage and sex. Statistical analyses were carried out in R. Surprisingly, trends suggest that RBS presence does not depend on DWD size, and that RBS abundance is lower in HF-HeRE plots with higher DWD volume. These data shed light on RBS habitat association and suggest further investigation is needed regarding the use of ACOs as an unbiased survey method.

  • Research Category: Biodiversity Studies; Conservation and Management; Group Projects; Large Experiments and Permanent Plot Studies; Physiological Ecology, Population Dynamics, and Species Interactions