Salamander abundance in regenerating forest stands on the Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia

Abstract

We compared the abundance of salamanders in 18 hardwood stands treated with two-age management 15 yr after harvest, clearcutting 15 yr after harvest, and mature second-growth stands in the Monongahela National Forest of West Virginia during the summers of 1995 and 1996. Salamanders were captured with pitfall traps. We sampled 47,083 trap days and captured eight species of salamanders. Abundance of salamanders, expressed as number captured per 100 trap days, was higher (P = 0.06) in the mature second-growth than two-age treatment (two-age = 0.96 ± 0.11; clearcut = 1.46 ± 0.23; mature second-growth = 2.40 ± 0.57). Abundance of redback salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) also was higher (P = 0.09) in the mature second-growth than two-age treatment (two-age = 0.76 ± 0.14; clearcut = 1.48 ± 0.34; mature second-growth = 1.84 ± 0.51). These data indicate that 15 yr after harvest, harvested stands in the Monongahela National Forest may be less favorable than mature hardwood forests for some forest salamanders.