Environmental gradients in old-growth Appalachian forest predict fine-scale distribution, co-occurrence, and density of woodland salamanders.

ABSTRACT: Woodland salamanders are among the most abundant vertebrate animals in temperate deciduous forests of eastern North America. Because of their abundance, woodland salamanders are responsible for the transformation of nutrients and translocation of energy between highly disparate levels of trophic organization: detrital food webs and high-order predators. However, the spatial extent of woodland salamanders' role in the ecosystem is likely contingent upon the distribution of their biomass throughout the forest. We sought to determine if natural environmental gradients influence the fine-scale distribution and density of Southern Ravine Salamanders (Plethodon richmondi) and Cumberland Plateau Salamanders (P. kentucki). We addressed this objective by constructing occupancy, co-occ

SUBMITTER: Baecher JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6308888 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature