Global climate change represents one of the most extensive and pervasive threats to wildlife populations. Amphibians, specifically salamanders, are particularly susceptible to the effects of changing climates due to their restrictive physiological requirements and low vagility; however, little is known about which landscapes and species are vulnerable to climate change. Our study objectives included, (1) evaluating species-specific predictions (based on 2050 climate projections) and vulnerabilities to climate change and (2) using collective species responses to identify areas of climate refugia for conservation priority salamanders in the northeastern United States. All evaluated salamander species were projected to lose a portion of their climatic niche. Averaged projected losses ranged from 3%–100% for individual species, with the Cow Knob Salamander (Plethodon punctatus), Cheat Mountain Salamander (Plethodon nettingi), Shenandoah Mountain Salamander (Plethodon virginia), Mabee’s Salamander (Ambystoma mabeei), and Streamside Salamander (Ambystoma barbouri) predicted to lose at least 97% of their landscape-scale climatic niche. The Western Allegheny Plateau was predicted to lose the greatest salamander climate refugia richness (i.e., number of species with a climatically-suitable niche in a landscape patch), whereas the Central Appalachians provided refugia for the greatest number of species during current and projected climate scenarios. Our results can be used to identify species and landscapes that are likely to be further affected by climate change and potentially resilient habitats that will provide consistent climatic conditions in the face of environmental change.

Decades of fire exclusion in the Southern Appalachian Mountains led to fuel accumulation and conversion from open oak-pine woodlands to closed-canopy mesic forests dominated by shade-tolerant hardwoods and shrubs that often do not support a diverse understory. Southern Appalachian forest managers and scientists recognize this and are implementing silvicultural treatments such as prescribed burning, mechanical treatments or a combination of these to restore forest structure. In this study, conducted at the Southern Appalachian Fire and Fire Surrogate Study site in Green River Game Land, North Carolina, we assessed the effects of four fuel reduction methods: burned 4x (B), mechanical treatment 2x (M), mechanical treatment 2x + burned 4x (MB), and control (C) on the changes in understory vegetation guilds from pretreatment to post-treatment years (2001–2016). The MB treatment was most effective at meeting the restoration objectives, as it resulted in increases in oak (Δ_MB = 23,400 stems/ha) and pine (Δ_MB = 900 stems/ha) stem density, importance value—calculated as the sum of relative cover and frequency—for graminoids (Δ_MB = 26.0), and density of oak stems >50 cm in height (Δ_MB = 7133 stems/ha). The B and M treatments were generally less effective, but nonetheless met a subset of the restoration objectives. The B treatment reduced ericaceous shrub cover (Δ_B = −1.2%) and increased oak stems 10–50 cm in height (Δ_B = 10,017 stems/ha), while the M treatment resulted in only modest increases of mesic hardwoods, specifically for yellow-poplar (Δ_M = 200 stems/ha) and blackgum (Δ_M = 200 stems/ha) as compared with other treatments, but significantly increased mountain laurel and rhododendron cover (Δ_M = 10.0%). Overall, these fire and fire surrogate treatments had some success in restoring understory structure, but our findings suggest a slow response in understory herbaceous vegetation.

Clement, M. A., K. Barrett, and R. F. Baldwin. 2019. Key habitat features facilitate the presence of Barred Owls in developed landscapes. Avian Conservation and Ecology 14(2):12. https://doi.org/10.5751/ACE-01427-140212

Although many non-native species negatively influence amphibian populations, non-native aquatic vegetation has been documented to have positive, negative, and neutral effects on anuran larvae. To evaluate the response of anurans to non-native plants, we exposed two frog species, Gray Treefrog (Hyla versicolor-chrysoscelis) and Southern Leopard Frog (Lithobates sphenocephalus), to detritus from either native hardwood trees, non-native purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), or a mixture of both. Experiments were conducted in artificial ponds, and we recorded the survival, growth, and metamorphic size of larvae. Gray Treefrog survival was highest in tanks with native leaf litter. Developmental time did not differ among treatments, but tadpoles in tanks with purple loosestrife were significantly larger than those in tanks with native leaf litter. Southern Leopard Frog survival was lowest in the mixed vegetation treatment. As with Gray Treefrogs, developmental time was not influenced by treatment, bu...