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  • Response of Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) to the Forestry Reclamation Approach on Legacy Surface Mines in the Monongahela National Forest (West Virginia)
  • Steven J. Price (bio), Rebecca N. Davenport (bio), Lauren Sherman (bio), Jeffery L. Larkin (bio), John Cox (bio), Jillian C. Newman (bio), and Christopher Barton (bio)

Coal mining has impacted land cover in the Appalachian region. The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977 requires U.S. coal mining companies to reclaim mined lands to avert soil erosion and landslides. Traditional reclamation practices involve soil compaction and planting of non-native grasses to form grasslands (Angel et al. 2015). Traditional approaches result in loss of topographic complexity, poor hydrological function, and limited root growth, which constrains reforestation (Burger et al. 2013). Recently, practitioners restored some traditionally reclaimed sites using an adaptation of the Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) for legacy surface mines (Burger et al. 2017). Restoration techniques included soil de-compaction, non-native species removal, planting of native trees, woody debris loading, and wetland creation to accelerate forest succession and provide environmental services, including wildlife habitat (Lambert et al. 2021).

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 this study, we selected 30 sites on legacy minelands and mature, red spruce (Picea rubens)—northern hardwood forests within and around Mower Tract and Sharp’s Knob (Randolph and Pocahontas Counties) in the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) in West Virginia (USA). We estimated the abundance of Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) across restored legacy mines of two FRA age classes (i.e., young FRA [2–5 yrs since planting; YFRA] and older FRA [8–11 yrs since planting; OFRA]), and compared abundances to naturally regenerating forests on pre-SMCRA minelands (> 40 yrs since mining; REGEN) and mature, unmined forests (MAT). We hypothesized that salamanders would be least abundant in YFRA sites, and abundances would increase across the chronosequence of forest age (i.e., YFRA < OFRA < REGEN < MAT).

Salamander surveys were conducted in YFRA (n = 8), OFRA (n = 8), REGEN (n = 7), or MAT (n =7) treatments. YFRA sites were restored between 2017 and 2020 and were loaded with woody debris prior to planting of P. rubens and 12 hardwood species. YFRA sites were characterized by extensive herbaceous groundcover; seedlings had a mean height of < 1 m. OFRA sites were restored between 2011 and 2014 and planted with seedlings of P. rubens and 3 hardwood species. Sapling height at OFRA sites ranged from 2–4 m. REGEN sites were mined prior to the implementation of SMCRA and initially reclaimed as grasslands; however, planting of non-native conifers (Norway spruce; P. abies) and moderate recolonization by native trees led to partial to full canopy closure at some REGEN sites (Branduzzi 2020). MAT sites were unmined, second-growth forest. All sites were at least 200 m apart to promote independence.

In October 2021, we placed ten pine coverboards (measuring 30 × 30 × 2.5 cm) in a 1 × 10 m array at each study site. We surveyed boards on six occasions at each site from late May through early July 2022. Salamander surveys involved searching under each board within an array and recording the species and the total number of individuals detected. Count data were generated by summing salamander captures under 10 boards at each site. [End Page 105]


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Figure 1.

Estimated mean abundance of Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) within 1 × 10 m coverboard arrays in young Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) forests (2–5 yrs since planting; YFRA), older FRA forests (8–11 yrs since planting; OFRA), naturally regenerating (REGEN) forests on minelands, and unmined mature (MAT) forests in the Monongahela National Forest (West Virginia). Error bars indicated 95% credible intervals.

We used a Bayesian binomial mixture model (Royle 2004) to examine effects of treatment type on salamander abundance, following the approach outlined in Drayer et al. (2020). Using count data from repeat visits, we modeled abundance (λ) with a Poisson distribution. Heterogeneity in abundance among populations was modelled using a Poisson-regression formulation of mean...

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