Phenology is an important consideration when employing land management practices. Restoring deteriorated habitat using prescribed burns, physical removal of invasive species, and other methods can promote native vegetation but these methods can also pose threats to rare and declining species. Three woodland salamander species (Ambystoma jeffersonianum, Ambystoma platineum, and Ambystoma laterale) are examples of Species in Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) whose breeding phenologies coincide with normal management season (late winter). The adult breeding season, which can start as early as January for some species, is typified by a large migration of adult salamanders to breeding wetlands. These species are the earliest arriving amphibians to vernal wetlands in the region of study and have the most overlap with management season. Although management can restore breeding wetlands and surrounding terrestrial habitat, the same management could lead to direct mortality of SGCN. The timing of management practices informed by SGCN phenologies can facilitate the conservation of Ambystoma species. To address the timing of salamander breeding phenology, we analyzed the movements of three ambystomatids to their breeding wetlands with drift fences and pitfall traps. We used NOAA station data from each site to understand the timing and pulses of migration across years (2018, 2019, 2020).
Results/Conclusions
For all Ambystoma species studied, precipitation coincided with migration movements as well as a soil inversion (surface becomes warmer than 30 cm depth). Typically, burn plans are not enacted during periods of high precipitation. Therefore, burn plans should not cause unintentional mortality of Ambystoma species or deter migration because days that favor burns simultaneously discourage Ambystoma movement. Physical removal management is less limited as it won’t disturb nocturnal migrations. Both 2018 and 2019 exhibited similar relationships to precipitation preceding movement. Both years also exhibited similar phenology for each species except for 2020, when A. jeffersonianum made some early movements that also coincided with rain events.