Honors Theses and Capstones

Date Completed

Spring 2026

Abstract

Balancing the needs of humans and wildlife is one of the primary goals of conservation. Understanding how species respond to resource extraction is essential to achieve long-term population stability. This is especially relevant for amphibians, which are particularly sensitive to environmental disturbances due to habitat loss and degradation. As such they are often used as indicator species. This study leverages 20-years of amphibian abundance data from surveys in different silvicultural treatments to understand how American toads (Anaxyrus americanus), wood frogs (Lithobates sylvaticus), and red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) respond to changes in forest structure, weather, and the proximity and size of nearby wetlands. None of the seven environmental covariates affected all three species in the same way. American toad abundance displayed negative responses to three silvicultural treatments which differed greatly in their disturbance intensity. Wood frog abundance was only affected by one treatment type, showing an increase in abundance under group selection. However, this species was negatively affected by distance from the nearest wetland and positively affected by an increase in relative stand density, herbaceous cover, and precipitation. Red-backed salamander abundance was negatively affected by the most severe harvest treatments and positively impacted by some of the less intensive disturbances. Only two environmental factors had a significant effect on red-backed salamanders, with both an increase in nearest wetland size and relative stand density negatively impacting abundance. These findings underscore the idea that animals living in the same ecosystem may respond differently to disturbances depending on their ecology and life history and that these responses are mediated by a variety of factors, including weather and landscape context. These factors must be accounted for in silviculture and conservation management.

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

First Advisor

Rebecca J. Rowe

Second Advisor

Joshua Willems

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

College or School

COLSA

Department or Program

Natural Resources and the Environment

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

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