Response of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) to Changes in Hemlock Forest Soil Driven by Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae)
| Autor: | Ahmed A. H. Siddig, Alison Ochs |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
Plethodon cinereus
biology Renewable Energy Sustainability and the Environment Ecology Adelges tsugae Plant litter biology.organism_classification Soil quality Invasive species lcsh:TD1-1066 invasive species soil Indicator species Girdling Hemlock woolly adelgid hemlock forest lcsh:Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering Relative species abundance Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics General Environmental Science |
| Zdroj: | Environments, Vol 4, Iss 1, p 8 (2017) Environments; Volume 4; Issue 1; Pages: 8 |
| ISSN: | 2076-3298 |
| Popis: | Hemlock forests of the northeastern United States are declining due to the invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) (Adelges tsugae). Hardwood species replace these forests, which affects soil properties that may influence other communities, such as red-backed salamanders (red-backs) (Plethodon cinereus). This study examined the effects of HWA invasion on soil properties and how this affects red-backs at the Hemlock Removal Experiment at Harvard Forest, which consists of eight 0.8 ha plots treated with girdling to simulate HWA invasion, logging to simulate common management practices, or hemlock- or hardwood-dominated controls. Coverboard surveys were used to determine the relative abundance of red-backs between plots during June and July 2014 and soil cores were collected from which the bulk density, moisture, pH, temperature, leaf litter, and carbon-nitrogen ratio were measured. Ordination provided a soil quality index based on temperature, pH, and carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, which was significantly different between plot treatments (p < 0.05) and showed a significant negative correlation with the red-back relative abundance (p < 0.05). The findings support the hypothesis that red-backs are affected by soil quality, which is affected by plot treatment and thus HWA invasion. Further studies should explore how salamanders react in the long term towards changing environments and consider the use of red-backs as indicator species. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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