Prescribed fire and timber harvest effects on terrestrial salamander abundance, detectability, and microhabitat use

The goal of my dissertation was to assess how terrestrial salamanders respond to two common forest management practices -- prescribed fire and timber harvest. Previous studies have reported that timber harvest adversely affects terrestrial salamanders, but there is not enough information to draw conclusions about the effects of prescribed fire. It is important to understand how prescribed fire affects wildlife, as it is increasingly being used to decrease wildfire risk and restore fire-adapted ecosystems. However, many fire management decisions are currently based on predicted plant responses, since there is more data available on plants than wildlife. To estimate terrestrial salamander population size (abundance) prior to treatments, I conducted surveys for three years and used a statistical modeling approach that accounted for the tendency of terrestrial salamanders to be belowground and unavailable for surveys. I found that terrestrial salamander density at our Missouri Ozark study site ranged from 0.4 to 1.6 salamanders per square meter. I found that salamanders were most likely to be on the forest floor surface during or following rainfall, and that they were more likely to be in leaf litter than under cover objects if it had recently rained. Following timber harvest and prescribed fire, salamanders were less likely to be on the surface. It appears that terrestrial salamander abundance is more adversely affected by timber harvest than by prescribed fire. I also tracked individual salamanders before and after a prescribed burn, and found that they stayed belowground much more frequently in burned areas than non-burned areas. However, I did not find evidence of direct salamander mortality due to the fire. My results indicate that terrestrial salamanders respond to post-fire and post-harvest conditions by spending more time belowground to avoid increased physiological stress. Though it appears that terrestrial salamanders can generally avoid direct consequences of prescribed fire, behavioral responses to post-fire micro-environmental conditions could affect salamander populations in ways that are not yet apparent.

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Effects of Timber Harvest and Periodic Fire on Soil Chemical Properties in the Ouachita Mountains

Southern Journal of Applied Forestry ◽

10.1093/sjaf/17.3.139 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

pp. 139-145 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ronald E. Masters ◽

David M. Engle ◽

Ray Robinson

Keyword(s):

Prescribed Fire ◽

Vegetation Change ◽

Chemical Properties ◽

Soil Nutrient ◽

Natural Disturbance ◽

Timber Harvest ◽

Soil Chemical Properties ◽

Plant Succession ◽

Ph Effects ◽

Ouachita Mountains

Abstract Soil chemical properties on mountainous terrain in oak-pine forests of southeastern Oklahoma changed following timber harvest and prescribed fire. Differences were related to residual stand characteristic, prescribed fire regimen, and vegetation change following site perturbation. Available NO3-N, Ca, and P significantly increased on harvested and burned sites, and on clearcut, windrowed, and summer burned sites compared to untreated sites. Nitrate levels were statistically unrelated to a 2,690% increase (7 to 190 lb/ac) in legume standing crop across site treatments. Nitrate levels were low, and these sites may be nitrogen limited. No increase was found in soil pH. Effects of burning harvested sites on most soil chemical properties generally persisted less than 2 yr. A timber harvest-fire interaction on levels of available K and Mg was evident 4 yr posttreatment. Timber harvest, periodic prescribed fire, and subsequent plant succession redirected nutrient cycling pathways and enhanced soil nutrient levels. Enhanced nutrient regimes are ecologically advantageous for stand reinitiation and recovery following site perturbation or natural disturbance. South. J. Appl. For. 17(3):139-145.

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Silviculture and wildlife relationships in the boreal forest of Interior Alaska

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc72059-1 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 72 (1) ◽

pp. 59-62 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

D. A. Haggstrom ◽

D. G. Kelleyhouse

Keyword(s):

Boreal Forest ◽

Prescribed Fire ◽

Environmental Science ◽

Wildland Fire ◽

Timber Harvest ◽

Natural Disturbances ◽

Forest Types ◽

Natural Processes ◽

Clearcut Logging ◽

Political Economic

Wildlife diversity and abundance are directly tied to the ever changing nature of the boreal forest. Wildland fire and fluvial action have been primarily responsible for maintaining diversity and productivity. However, there is an increasing need to protect people, human developments and a forest base for timber harvest from natural disturbances. Differences between logging, prescribed fire and wildland fire, and their effects on wildlife are discussed. We also discuss the value of riparian and late successional forest types within the boreal forest, our concerns for proposals that seek to optimize timber harvests for large areas, and some professional, political, economic and biological challenges facing managers who attempt to supplement or supplant natural processes with silvicultural practices. We conclude by urging forest managers to make decisions carefully, based on the best environmental science available, with full public and agency involvement, and with the understanding that there is still much to be learned about the boreal forest ecosystem. Key words: boreal forest, wildlife, wildland fire, clearcut logging, old growth

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Impacts of forest management on medicinal herbs in the Missouri Ozarks

10.32469/10355/62050 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Badger Baldwin Johnson

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Prescribed Fire ◽

Fire Management ◽

Timber Harvest ◽

Canopy Gaps ◽

Percent Cover ◽

Forest Farming ◽

Ground Flora ◽

Ecological Site ◽

Actaea Racemosa

As agroforestry becomes more accepted in the Midwestern US, understanding how non-timber forest product growth is impacted by forest management practice becomes increasingly important. Timber harvest and prescribed fires are common forest management practices in the Central Hardwoods Region, and canopy gaps commonly result from these practices. Three studies were conducted in central and southern Missouri to assess the impacts of forest management. One of the studies focused on the effects of discrete canopy gaps on the height, reproduction and mortality of transplanted Actaea racemosa L., Allium tricoccum Aiton, Collinsonia canadensis L. and Hydrastis canadensis L. This study was replicated at the Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center in New Franklin, MO as well as the Doug Allen Project Site in Gravois Mills, Missouri. Results indicate that small canopy gaps may prove beneficial for increasing rates of photosynthesis, as well as the height and sexual reproduction of the study species. Using ground flora cover data from the Missouri Ozark Forest Ecosystem Project, a second study was conducted on the relationships (P less than 0.05) between size and abundance of eleven herb species with ecological site types and the following timber harvest types: clearcutting, group selection, single-tree selection and intermediate thinning timber and no harvest (control). The goals were to ascertain whether ecological site descriptions can be used in conjunction with silvicultural management to select and manage sites for forest farming.Study species included Actaea racemosa L., Apocynum cannabinum L., Aristolochia serpentaria L., Dioscorea quaternata J.F. Gmel., Echinacea simulata R.L. McGregor, Geranium maculatum L., Hydrastis canadensis L., Parthenium integrifolium L., Podophyllum peltatum L., Sanguinaria canadensis L. and Tephrosia virginiana (L.) Pers. Uneven-aged management harvest types were significantly positively related to the percent cover and/or frequency of A. racemosa, E. simulata, G. maculatum, H. canadensis, P. peltatum and S. canadensis. Percent covers and/or frequencies of A. racemosa, A. cannabinum and A. serpentaria were significantly , positively related to mesic ESDs only, while the percent covers and/or frequencies of D. quaternata, G. maculatum and P. integrifolium were significantly , positively related to specific mesic and specific xeric ESDs A third study was conducted using the ground flora cover data from The Nature Conservancy's Chilton Creek Management Area, to assess significant (P less than 0.05) relationships between size and abundance of eight herb species with different ecological site descriptions under prescribed fire management. Goals for the study included identifying forest farming sites and planning prescribed fire management that, paired together, might stimulate growth of these plants. Study species included Actaea racemosa L., Apocynum cannabinum L., Aristolochia serpentaria L., Dioscorea quaternata J.F. Gmel., Geranium maculatum L., Parthenium integrifolium L., Sanguinaria canadensis L. and Tephrosia virginiana (L.) Pers. Percent cover values for the following species were positively related to time since beginning of experiment: A. racmosa, A. serpentaria, A. cannabinum, D. quaternata and T. virginiana, and frequency of A. cannabinum and D. quaternata was positively related to time since beginning of experiment. Representatives of these species significantly increased in percent cover over time and in the latter subset, had higher frequency over the course of prescribed fire management. Small canopy gaps may be beneficial to non-timber forest product species in oak hickory forests. Knowledge of how these species perform on particular ecological site descriptions can influence forest farming site selections. Additionally, decisions about which overstory management activities will be conducted, whether these be timber stand improvement activities involving canopy-gap creation, unevenaged management timber harvest types, and prescribed fire, can be used to determine whether forest farming operations can be synergistic with the existing silvicultural management plan.

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Patterns of distribution, relative abundance, and microhabitat use of anurans in a boreal landscape influenced by fire and timber harvest

Ecoscience ◽

10.1080/11956860.2001.11682676 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 462-470 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Juanita M. Constible ◽

Patrick T. Gregory ◽

Bradley R. Anholt

Keyword(s):

Relative Abundance ◽

Timber Harvest ◽

Microhabitat Use ◽

Patterns Of Distribution ◽

Boreal Landscape

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Predicting Ailanthus altissima presence across a managed forest landscape in southeast Ohio

Forest Ecosystems ◽

10.1186/s40663-019-0198-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Louis R. Iverson ◽

Joanne Rebbeck ◽

Matthew P. Peters ◽

Todd Hutchinson ◽

Timothy Fox

Keyword(s):

Prescribed Fire ◽

Stand Structure ◽

Timber Harvest ◽

Ailanthus Altissima ◽

Eastern United States ◽

Modeling Tools ◽

Landscape Characteristics ◽

Seed Sources ◽

Exotic Tree

Abstract Background The negative impacts of the exotic tree, Ailanthus altissima (tree-of-heaven, stink tree), is spreading throughout much of the Eastern United States. When forests are disturbed, it can invade and expand quickly if seed sources are nearby. Methods We conducted studies at the highly dissected Tar Hollow State Forest (THSF) in southeastern Ohio USA, where Ailanthus is widely distributed within the forest, harvests have been ongoing for decades, and prescribed fire had been applied to about a quarter of the study area. Our intention was to develop models to evaluate the relationship of Ailanthus presence to prescribed fire, harvesting activity, and other landscape characteristics, using this Ohio location as a case study. Field assessments of the demography of Ailanthus and other stand attributes (e.g., fire, harvesting, stand structure) were conducted on 267 sample plots on a 400-m grid throughout THSF, supplemented by identification of Ailanthus seed-sources via digital aerial sketch mapping during the dormant season. Statistical modeling tools Random Forest (RF), Classification and Regression Trees (CART), and Maxent were used to assess relationships among attributes, then model habitats suitable for Ailanthus presence. Results In all, 41 variables were considered in the models, including variables related to management activities, soil characteristics, topography, and vegetation structure (derived from LiDAR). The most important predictor of Ailanthus presence was some measure of recent timber harvest, either mapped harvest history (CART) or LiDAR-derived canopy height (Maxent). Importantly, neither prescribed fire or soil variables appeared as important predictors of Ailanthus presence or absence in any of the models of the THSF. Conclusions These modeling techniques provide tools and methodologies for assessing landscapes for Ailanthus invasion, as well as those areas with higher potentials for invasion should seed sources become available. Though a case study on an Ohio forest, these tools can be modified for use anywhere Ailanthus is invading.

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