The Effects of Climate Change and Long-term Fire Suppression on Ephemeral Pond Communities in the Southeastern United States

In the southeastern United States, ephemeral wetlands in pine flatwoods provide important habitat for amphibians and aquatic invertebrates, but extensive deforestation has destroyed or isolated many wetlands and fire suppression has altered vegetation in others. My goals were to identify how wetlan...

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Main Author: Chandler, Houston Cawthorn
Other Authors: Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
Format: Others
Published: Virginia Tech 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10919/51190
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spelling ndltd-VTETD-oai-vtechworks.lib.vt.edu-10919-511902020-11-13T05:37:22Z The Effects of Climate Change and Long-term Fire Suppression on Ephemeral Pond Communities in the Southeastern United States Chandler, Houston Cawthorn Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences Haas, Carola A. Gorman, Thomas A. Karpanty, Sarah M. Voshell, J. Reese Jr. amphibians ephemeral wetlands fire flatwoods salamander pine flatwoods aquatic invertebrates In the southeastern United States, ephemeral wetlands in pine flatwoods provide important habitat for amphibians and aquatic invertebrates, but extensive deforestation has destroyed or isolated many wetlands and fire suppression has altered vegetation in others. My goals were to identify how wetland hydroperiods have changed through time and to examine the effects of long-term fire suppression on aquatic communities, including Reticulated Flatwoods Salamanders (Ambystoma bishopi) and Ornate Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris ornata). Chapter 1 used a modeling approach to relate wetland hydroperiods to current climate conditions and to hindcast historic conditions. Over the past 118 years, hydroperiods were often unfavorable for A. bishopi reproduction, and in recent years hydroperiods were shortened by persistent drought. Chapters 2 and 3 focused on identifying the effects of shifting from an open, grass dominated wetland to a wetland with high canopy cover and little herbaceous vegetation. In Chapter 2, I quantified amphibian and invertebrate communities in several wetlands. A. bishopi and P. ornata tended to occupy wetlands with lower canopy cover and higher herbaceous vegetation cover. Aquatic invertebrate abundance was generally higher in wetlands with lower shrub density and lower canopy cover. In Chapter 3, I examined how a reduction in herbaceous vegetation affected tadpoles when a predatory crayfish was present using two experiments. Crayfish were effective predators of both species across all vegetation treatments and often caused nonlethal tail injury. My results suggest that managers should focus on ensuring that wetland basins regularly burn, and wetlands with longer hydroperiods should be a management priority. Master of Science 2015-01-16T09:00:54Z 2015-01-16T09:00:54Z 2015-01-15 Thesis vt_gsexam:4224 http://hdl.handle.net/10919/51190 In Copyright http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ ETD application/pdf Virginia Tech
collection NDLTD
format Others
sources NDLTD
topic amphibians
ephemeral wetlands
fire
flatwoods salamander
pine flatwoods
aquatic invertebrates
spellingShingle amphibians
ephemeral wetlands
fire
flatwoods salamander
pine flatwoods
aquatic invertebrates
Chandler, Houston Cawthorn
The Effects of Climate Change and Long-term Fire Suppression on Ephemeral Pond Communities in the Southeastern United States
description In the southeastern United States, ephemeral wetlands in pine flatwoods provide important habitat for amphibians and aquatic invertebrates, but extensive deforestation has destroyed or isolated many wetlands and fire suppression has altered vegetation in others. My goals were to identify how wetland hydroperiods have changed through time and to examine the effects of long-term fire suppression on aquatic communities, including Reticulated Flatwoods Salamanders (Ambystoma bishopi) and Ornate Chorus Frogs (Pseudacris ornata). Chapter 1 used a modeling approach to relate wetland hydroperiods to current climate conditions and to hindcast historic conditions. Over the past 118 years, hydroperiods were often unfavorable for A. bishopi reproduction, and in recent years hydroperiods were shortened by persistent drought. Chapters 2 and 3 focused on identifying the effects of shifting from an open, grass dominated wetland to a wetland with high canopy cover and little herbaceous vegetation. In Chapter 2, I quantified amphibian and invertebrate communities in several wetlands. A. bishopi and P. ornata tended to occupy wetlands with lower canopy cover and higher herbaceous vegetation cover. Aquatic invertebrate abundance was generally higher in wetlands with lower shrub density and lower canopy cover. In Chapter 3, I examined how a reduction in herbaceous vegetation affected tadpoles when a predatory crayfish was present using two experiments. Crayfish were effective predators of both species across all vegetation treatments and often caused nonlethal tail injury. My results suggest that managers should focus on ensuring that wetland basins regularly burn, and wetlands with longer hydroperiods should be a management priority. === Master of Science
author2 Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
author_facet Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
Chandler, Houston Cawthorn
author Chandler, Houston Cawthorn
author_sort Chandler, Houston Cawthorn
title The Effects of Climate Change and Long-term Fire Suppression on Ephemeral Pond Communities in the Southeastern United States
title_short The Effects of Climate Change and Long-term Fire Suppression on Ephemeral Pond Communities in the Southeastern United States
title_full The Effects of Climate Change and Long-term Fire Suppression on Ephemeral Pond Communities in the Southeastern United States
title_fullStr The Effects of Climate Change and Long-term Fire Suppression on Ephemeral Pond Communities in the Southeastern United States
title_full_unstemmed The Effects of Climate Change and Long-term Fire Suppression on Ephemeral Pond Communities in the Southeastern United States
title_sort effects of climate change and long-term fire suppression on ephemeral pond communities in the southeastern united states
publisher Virginia Tech
publishDate 2015
url http://hdl.handle.net/10919/51190
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