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Mean and standard error of salamanders (Plethodon only and all species combined) captured along 18, 200-m transects traversing reclaimed mountaintop removal mine (−) and forested (+) habitats (edge is denoted by 0 m) in southern West Virginia, USA, 2001–2002.
Source publication
Mountaintop removal mining, a large-scale disturbance affecting vegetation, soil structure, and topography, converts landscapes from mature forests to extensive grassland and shrubland habitats. We sampled salamanders using drift-fence arrays and coverboard transects on and near mountaintop removal mines in southern West Virginia, USA, during 2000–...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... majority of captures for Plethodon and all species was within the forested treatment (77% and 72%, respectively, Table 4); whereas, few to none were captured on edges or in the grassland treatment. For Plethodon only and all species combined, more forest captures occurred away from the reclaimed mine edge (Fig. ...
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Citations
... Terrestrial salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) are abundant in Appalachian forests, but have low abundances on traditionally reclaimed minelands (Wood and Williams 2013). However, the response of terrestrial salamanders to the FRA has not been investigated. ...
... For example, Marsh and Beckman (2004) found abundance of eastern red-backed salamanders (RBS; Plethodon cinereus) was reduced up to 20 m from road edges, and deMaynadier and Hunter (1998) estimated interior edge effects from clearcuts extended 25-35 m for RBS. Wood and Williams (2013) found that salamander abundance was highest 75 m from the forest edge, with few captures occurring within edge treatments. However, Moseley et al. (2009) found RBS could occupy sites within 20 m of edges if sufficient refugia were available. ...
Amphibians are declining globally and while many factors are contributing to this decline, habitat loss and degradation caused by climate and land use changes are among the most critical. Habitat degradation and increased interspecific competition are both concerns for long-term viability of the federally-threatened Cheat Mountain salamander (Plethodon nettingi) which is endemic to high elevations in West Virginia. In this study, we quantified the impacts of linear habitat fragmentation (i.e., a linear forest clearing for creation of a ski slope) on local colonization and extinction probabilities in adjacent forested habitat for the Cheat Mountain salamander and two co-occurring competitor species, eastern red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) and Wehrle’s salamander (Plethodon wehrlei). We also quantified long-term changes in total occupancy of the species within the high elevation study area. We surveyed the salamander community annually from 1988 to 2021 using diurnal natural cover object searches at 43 plots, with 1988 representing three years following linear habitat fragmentation. For each species, we used dynamic occupancy models to identify and model influential covariates for initial occupancy, colonization, extinction, and detection probability. We found that distance to fragmentation was positively correlated with colonization probability for Cheat Mountain salamanders, indicating negative edge effects of the linear forest clearing. Distance to fragmentation was negatively correlated with colonization probability for eastern red-backed salamanders, potentially indicating this species benefited from increased solar radiation or reduced competition from Cheat Mountain salamanders. Predicted occupancy of eastern red-backed salamanders and Wehrle’s salamanders increased over the 34 year monitoring period, indicating potential for increased competitive interactions. Our study suggests that extensive linear habitat fragmentation could result in degraded habitat for Cheat Mountain salamanders in the adjacent forest, and that potential for interactions with competitor species is increasing in high elevation forest stands.
... The ecological legacies of surface mining impose substantial impacts on amphibian diversity, particularly for plethodontid salamanders that are especially diverse across the central Appalachian region. Past research, for example, has found that both aquatic (Wood and Williams, 2013a;Muncy et al., 2014;Price et al., 2015) and terrestrial (Wood and Williams, 2013b;Williams et al., 2017) plethodontid taxa exhibit lower occupancy, richness, and abundance on mined sites when compared to unmined reference habitats. Others have found that individual species' responses to surface coal extraction are often context-dependent and are tied to specific microhabitat variables that may be impacted by mining. ...
... Hinkle et al. (2018) found that Green Salamanders (Aneides aeneus) in Virginia were negatively impacted by surface mining but were still able to persist in small, remnant habitat patches within larger surface mines, provided that sufficient woody vegetation cover and rock outcrop habitat was available. Wood and Williams (2013b) found increasing terrestrial salamander abundance with increasing distance into intact forests along mine edges, and Brady (2016) found that terrestrial salamanders were able to recolonize surface mines that had been allowed to naturally become reforested. While the negative impacts of surface mining on terrestrial plethodontids are clear, there is still much insight to be gained regarding how surface mining activities influence microhabitat availability for terrestrial plethodontids and how this may subsequently limit salamander abundance on former surface mines or facilitate the recovery of some salamander populations. ...
... Nevertheless, our data indicate that the legacies of surface mining on Appalachian salamanders persist well after mining has ceased and vegetative recovery has progressed on former mines. Past work has found similar results, with decreased species richness and relative abundances of salamanders on formerly mined sites (Wood and Williams, 2013b;Muncy et al., 2014;Williams et al., 2017). Our results highlight the potential role of altered cover object preferences in shaping these differences in abundance on formerly mined sites. ...
Surface coal extraction and subsequent reclamation activities significantly alter hardwood forest habitats for Appalachian plethodontid salamanders, removing forest cover and compacting soils used by plethodontids as substrate. Past work has shown that both salamander species richness and abundance are lower on many formerly mined habitats across the Appalachian Mountains than in nearby unmined forests, although questions remain about how surface mining activities alter specific microhabitat variables important to these species and drive broader patterns in richness and abundance. We sought to address these questions through a comparison of cover object availability and preferences by terrestrial plethodontids on a former surface mine complex in Wise, Virginia, encompassing unmined, reclaimed, and mined but unreclaimed habitats. We found that the size of coarse woody debris items was significantly smaller in reclaimed mined habitats, with Cumberland Plateau Salamanders (Plethodon kentucki) displaying non-random preferences for rock cover on formerly mined but reforested sites. While our surveys were limited in geographic scope and may only apply to the particular physiographic contexts surrounding the study region, our results show that cover object availability may drive microhabitat preferences of terrestrial plethodontids on former surface mines, providing one potential mechanism for previously observed shifts in relative abundance on mined habitats.
... Previous salamander studies have also seen stronger effects of MTR-VF on larvae than adults (Wood and Williams, 2013;Muncy et al., 2014;Price et al., 2016). However, since these studies only examined salamander occupancy, abundance and richness, the proximate mechanism(s) driving these observations could not be tested or determined. ...
Changes in land use, such as mountaintop removal mining with valley fills (MTR-VF), often results in headwater streams with elevated specific conductivity (SC). Stream salamanders appear to be particularly sensitive to elevated SC, as previous studies have shown occupancy and abundance decline consistently among all species and life stages as SC increases. Yet, the proximate mechanism responsible for the population declines in streams with elevated SC have eluded researchers. We sampled salamander assemblages across a continuous SC gradient (30–1966 μS/cm) in southeastern Kentucky and examined the diet of larval and adult salamanders to determine if the ratio of aquatic to terrestrial prey (autochthony), total prey volume, aquatic prey importance (Ix), and body condition are influenced by SC. Further, we asked if threshold points for each diet component were present along a gradient of SC. Larval salamanders experienced a 12–fold decline in autochthony at 153 μS/cm, a 4.2–fold decline in total prey volume at 100 μS/cm, a 2.2-fold decline in aquatic Ix at 135 μS/cm, and a rapid decline in body condition as SC increased. Adult salamanders experienced a 3–fold decline in autochthony at 382 μS/cm, no change in prey volumes, a 2-fold decline in aquatic Ix at 163 μS/cm, and a decline in body condition as SC increased. Our results indicate that SC indirectly affects stream salamander populations by changing the composition of diet, which suggests that food availability is a proximate mechanism that leads to reduced population occupancy, abundance, and persistence in streams with elevated SC.
... Williams and Wood (2004) noted high rock density and abundant cover objects mitigated some of the impacts to stream salamanders in post-mined valley-fill streams. Further work by Wood and Williams (2013b) found similar salamander species richness between reference and valley-fill streams, but approximately double the number of salamander individuals was observed in reference streams relative to valley fill. Sweeten and Ford (2016) assessed occupancy and abundance of stream salamanders with stream habitat and landscape-level covariates in southwest Virginia and found that both occupancy and abundance of Desmognathus spp. was best explained by site variables such as stream canopy cover (Fig. 2). ...
Rivers and streams of Appalachia harbor some of the most biologically diverse, endemically rich, freshwater faunas in the world. Many aquatic species, however, are threatened by a wide array of anthropogenic stressors, including past and present mining. This chapter reviews impacts of mining on aquatic life in Appalachia, including interactive effects on food web dynamics, effects on ecosystem functional processes, and effects that are manifested in aquatic communities at watershed scales. Responses to mining depend on whether mine effluent is acidic in nature or highly alkaline; this dichotomy structures much of the discussion. Mining directly impacts aquatic biota because effluents can be toxic due to elevated major ions, trace metals, notably selenium, and/or acidity. Drainage from mined areas also affects complicated changes to biota indirectly by altering food webs, biotic interactions, and movement processes in stream networks. Finally, we review the response and recovery of aquatic biota to remediation efforts that treat mine effluent, and we discuss the use of aquatic organisms in assessing and managing impacts of mining activities. Throughout, we present uncertainties and gaps in our knowledge about impacts of mining activity on aquatic life in Appalachia, which represent important directions for future research.
... Indeed, our landcover transition analyses revealed that only a small proportion of reclaimed minelands returned to forest or forest-like conditions between 1992 and 2011, some of which is accounted for by University of Kentucky experimental tree plots. Land surfaces constructed during the process of mine reclamation are seldom as hospitable to subsurface biota as those that existed prior to mining (Wood et al. 2017); for example, the compacted substrate typical of many reclaimed minelands has been associated with lower abundances of salamanders and small mammals ( Larkin et al. 2008;Wood and Williams 2013). Several studies have documented use of boulders and other uncompacted substrates by native wildlife (eg Chamblin et al. 2004), but more research is needed to test the effectiveness of specific mine reclamation practices with regard to restoration of subsurface habitats important to native flora and fauna, including C horridus. ...
Surface coal mining can permanently alter the rugged topography of Appalachia, which plays an important role in creating and maintaining the structure, composition, and diversity of this North American region's ecological communities. We used remote‐sensing datasets to characterize the past and future topographic impacts of surface coal mining on the mixed‐mesophytic forests of eastern Kentucky. To provide context, we examined the consequences of widespread topographic rearrangement for an imperiled ridgetop‐associated predator, the timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus). We found that surface mining disproportionately impacts ridgetop habitats, causing large reductions in suitable habitat for C horridus, and most likely other ridgetop‐dependent biota as well. Land permitted for surface mining is also concentrated in high topographic positions, and patterns of habitat loss are therefore likely to remain concentrated within these ecosystems. These permanent topographic shifts complicate restoration of pre‐existing microhabitats, create homogenized landscapes, threaten long‐term ecosystem health, and reduce the diversity of ecological communities.
... Mountaintop removal mining sites in southeastern Kentucky, USA, show reduced occupancy, abundance, and species richness of stream-dwelling plethodontids (Muncy et al. 2014;Price et al. 2016), a phenomenon associated with large-scale land use trends occurring across entire watersheds and more small-scale changes in microhabitat variables resulting from mining activities (Sweeten and Ford 2016). Although the impacts of coal extraction on terrestrial plethodontids have not received much attention (Wickham et al. 2013), both abundance and species richness are lower on sites formerly mined compared to more pristine sites, likely a consequence of both vegetative removal and soil compaction (USEPA 2003;Williams 2003;Wood and Williams 2013). In other cases, reforested surface mines can provide suitable habitat for some assemblages of terrestrial salamanders, provided that nearby streams have not experienced impaired water quality (Brady 2015). ...
Surface mining practices associated with coal extraction significantly impact assemblages of amphibians in the Appalachian Mountains; however, the impacts of coal extraction on amphibian habitat associated with rock outcrops is poorly understood. We compared habitat at 45 rock outcrops scattered across the Virginia coalfields to examine if and how habitat features associated with the occupancy of Green Salamanders (Aneides aeneus) differ among undisturbed control sites, mined highwalls, and remnant outcrops remaining in small patches of undisturbed habitat on active and former surface mines. An analysis of similarity indicated that the habitat structure of highwalls was significantly different from that of natural outcrops. These habitats did not appear to support populations of Green Salamander, a finding in line with predictions about the impacts of coal extraction on plethodontid salamanders. However, remnant outcrops were not significantly different from natural outcrops with respect to both outcrop structure and surrounding vegetation, despite occurring in highly-fragmented edge habitats located in close proximity to mining activities. We found populations of the Green Salamander at more than 70% of the remnant outcrops, including at sites dominated by invasive vegetation and located within meters of surface extraction activities. Although more work is needed to ascertain the health and status of populations, our data indicate that Green Salamanders occur in small, isolated patches of habitat within a larger disturbed matrix more frequently than previously thought; thus, areas that have been mined may represent an overlooked reservoir of populations potentially crucial to the conservation of the species.
... Therefore, land use disturbances within matrices have the potential to disrupt overland dispersal pathways used by stream salamanders (i.e., Grant et al., 2010;Miller et al., 2015). In our study, the MTR landscape was dominated by grasslands and shrubs; these land cover types are characterized by reduced microhabitat availability and warmer and drier microclimatic conditions compared to Appalachian forests (Wickham et al., 2013;Wood & Williams, 2013b). Thus, our findings suggest that land use composition on MTR landscapes, particularly the reduction in forest cover and subsequent changes to temperature, moisture and light may limit overland dispersal, leading to low colonization rates and ultimately reduced occupancy. ...
Aim
Population dynamics are often tightly linked to the condition of the landscape. Focusing on a landscape impacted by mountaintop removal coal mining (MTR), we ask the following questions: (1) How does MTR influence vital rates including occupancy, colonization and persistence probabilities, and conditional abundance of stream salamander species and life stages? (2) Do species and life stages respond similar to MTR mining or is there significant variation among species and life stages?
Location
Freshwater and terrestrial habitats in Central Appalachia (South‐eastern Kentucky, USA).
Methods
We conducted salamander counts for three consecutive years in 23 headwater stream reaches in forested or previously mined landscapes. We used a hierarchical, N‐mixture model with dynamic occupancy to calculate species‐ and life stage‐specific occupancy, colonization and persistence rates, and abundance given occupancy. We examined the coefficients of the hierarchical priors to determine population variation among species and life stages.
Results
Over 3 years, reference sites had greater salamander abundances and were occupied at a much higher rate than streams impacted by MTR. At sites impacted by MTR mining, most salamander species and life stages exhibited reduced initial occupancy, colonization rates, persistence rates and conditional abundance relative to reference stream reaches. Furthermore, the rates in MTR sites showed low variance, reinforcing that species and life stages were responding similar to MTR.
Main conclusions
Salamander populations in landscapes modified by MTR mining exhibited significantly reduced vital rates compared to reference sites. Yet, similarity in responses across species suggests that management or restoration may benefit the entire salamander assemblage. For example, reforestation could reduce landscape resistance, repair altered hydrologic regimes and allow for higher rates of colonization and persistence in streams impacted by MTR.
... Additionally, mature forest-like conditions such as a high diversity of native tree species, large woody debris, and detritus cover, were found to greatly influence the presence and abundance of dusky salamanders. Wood and Williams (2013) also found lower abundances of dusky salamanders in reclaimed grassland and shrubland where there was less detritus, lower stem densities, less large woody debris, less canopy cover, and an increase in invasive herbaceous species, such as Sericea lespedeza, as compared to forested or partially forested sites. Invasive herbaceous species may not produce the necessary forest-like microhabitat (i.e., leaf litter, cover, and large woody debris) to provide the cool, moist habitat needed for salamanders and birds in Appalachian riparian zones (Lemke et al. 2013;Murray and Stauffer 1995). ...
Construction and renovation of streams and riparian corridors on mined lands have become common activities in Appalachia. Surface mining for coal can disturb ephemeral and intermittent streams, and may disturb permanent streams in some cases. Under the Clean Water Act, operations that fill or otherwise disturb streams must perform compensatory mitigation.
Scientific studies have identified beneficial effects of woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) in riparian areas of streams on mined areas and elsewhere. This advisory describes the reasons for establishing woody vegetation in constructed streams' riparian areas, and describes proper methods for mine sites.
... These changes in soil and vegetative communities affect abiotic conditions and other factors that lead to creation of a novel ecosystem. Even 28 y postreclamation on a mountaintop removal mine site in West Virginia, the area was still dominated by grasses and shrubs with very little tree growth or canopy cover (Wood and Williams 2013). In contrast, typical patterns of succession for forests in the central Appalachians include trees dominating regeneration within 5 y postdisturbance in clear-cuts; within 10 y, development of tree canopies over 6 m in height is common (Smith 1977). ...
... Abundance of copperbelly watersnakes (Nerodia erythrogaster neglecta) was higher after mining when compared to premining and duringmining levels. Wood and Williams (2013) found that terrestrial salamander abundance was higher in forested habitat than in reclaimed grassland habitat and reclaimed shrubland habitat. Abundance increased in forests with increasing distance from mine edges. ...
... We used vegetation structure and composition to define reclaimed treatments because reclamation age of grasslands and shrublands overlapped. As noted by Wood and Williams (2013), even 28 y postreclamation, reclaimed sites did not exhibit normal patterns of succession; those planted as grasslands remained as grasslands, while those planted as shrublands remained as shrublands (i.e., shrublands were not the result of grasslands that grew over time into shrublands). Predominant shrubland species included autumn olive, multiflora rose, European black alder (Alnus glutinosa), blackberry and raspberry (Rubus spp.), sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), scotch and white pines (Pinus sylvestris and Pinus strobus, respectively), and species found in the surrounding native landscape, such as red maple, American sycamore, and tuliptree (Williams 2003). ...
Mountaintop removal mining is a large-scale surface mining technique that removes entire floral and faunal communities, along with soil horizons located above coal seams. In West Virginia, the majority of this mining occurs on forested mountaintops. However, after mining ceases the land is typically reclaimed to grasslands and shrublands, resulting in novel ecosystems. In this study, we examined responses of herpetofauna to these novel ecosystems 10–28 y postreclamation. We quantified differences in species-specific habitat associations, (sub)order-level abundances, and habitat characteristics in four habitat types: reclaimed grassland, reclaimed shrubland, forest fragments in mined areas, and nonmined intact forest. Habitat type accounted for 33.2% of the variation in species-specific captures. With few exceptions, forest specialists were associated with intact forest and fragmented forest sites, while habitat generalists were either associated with grassland and shrubland sites or were distributed among all habitat types. At the (sub)order level, salamander (Order Urodela) captures were highest at fragmented and intact forest sites, frog and toad (Order Anura) captures were lowest at intact forest sites, and snake (Suborder Serpentes) captures were highest at shrubland sites. Habitat type was a strong predictor for estimated total abundance of urodeles, but not for anurans or snakes. Tree stem densities in grasslands differed from the other three habitat types, and large trees (>38 cm diameter at breast height) were only present at forest sites. Overstory vegetation cover was greater in forested than in reclaimed habitat types. Ground cover in reclaimed grasslands was distinct from forest treatments with generally less woody debris and litter cover and more vegetative cover. It is important to consider the distributions of habitat specialists of conservation concern when delineating potential mountaintop mine sites, as these sites will likely contain unsuitable habitat for forest specialists for decades or centuries when reclaimed to grassland or shrubland.
