Jami MacNeil MS Graduate Student Purdue University

Herpetofauna “crawling or creeping animals” “Herps”

AMPHIBIANSREPTILES  Smooth skin  No claws  Scaly skin  Claws Ectotherms

 Family: Plethodontidae  No lungs!  Nasolabial grooves  (Live in the woods!)

WETLANDFOREST  Pond-breeding  Aquatic larval stage  Terrestrial breeders  Direct development

 Habitat Soil, leaves, rocks, logs  Activity After dusk in spring and fall After rainfall  Diet Invertebrates  Mating Late fall to early spring

 Nutrient cycling  Regulate invertebrates  Regulate decomposers  Abundant

 Easier to monitor one species than ALL  Important to forest ecosystems  Sensitive Need moisture Small home range Territorial

 How does timber management affect forest ecosystems in Indiana?  100 year study

 Morgan-Monroe and Yellowwood State Forests  3 Treatments Control Even-aged Uneven-aged  3 Replicates Morgan Monroe Brown

 Goals: Determine how harvests affect relative abundance Determine how harvests affect species richness

 Visual encounter  Drift fences  Natural cover objects  Nighttime surveys  Auditory surveys  Radio telemetry

 Artificial Cover Objects (ACOs) Wood boards (12”x12”) Grids (30 boards each)

 84 cover board grids  30 boards per grid  2520 boards!

 Checked bi-weekly, spring and fall

REBA 61% All others <1% SOTW 1% NOSL 4% ZIZA 34% Total encounters to date: 22,063

 Precipitation  Soil moisture  Temperature  Downed woody debris  Canopy cover  Leaf litter

 Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE)  Injected beneath skin  Gradually hardens

Preliminary Findings:  Relative abundance decreases where canopy is removed  Salamander #s naturally vary over time and space  Temperature and precipitation are important

 Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry, Purdue University, Ball State University, Drake University, and The Nature Conservancy  Funding is provided by the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, and by the Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment  Thanks to the Indiana DNR Division of Forestry; Jeff Riegel, Rita Blythe, Kaylee Decosta, Jamie Nogle, Leslie Schreiber, Keegan Ramey, members of the Williams lab group, and the many volunteers who have contributed to data collection.  Brown County State Park— accommodations and outreach opportunities!

AMPHIBIANSREPTILES  Smooth skin  No claws  Scaly skin  Claws

WETLANDFOREST  Pond-breeding  Aquatic larval stage  Terrestrial breeders  Direct development