Surasinghe, T. D., and Baldwin, R. F. (2010). The ecological responses of stream salamanders to land use activities in the watershed areas in Piedmont and Blue Ridge ecoregions, USA: An ongoing project. Sixteenth Annual Tennessee Herpetology Conference, Cumberland Plateau Wildlife Management Area, TN.

1. Ecological Responses of Stream Salamanders to
Land-use in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge:
Overview and Methods
Thilina Surasinghe & Robert Baldwin
Dept of Forestry and Natural Resources
Clemson University, Clemson, SC

2. Global Biodiversity Loss
 Causes : habitat
loss, overexploitation, pollution, invasions, pathogens, climate
change.
 Anthropogenic drivers: land transformation
 Agricultural expansion, urbanization, infrastructure
development, river impoundments, international
trade, increasing demand for natural products
 Ecological cascades and keystone functions

3. Species Distribution
• Landform diversity
• Habitat heterogeneity
• Physiography
• Hydrology
• Microhabitat features
• Resource availability
• Disturbance regimes!!!!!
• Land-use !!!!!!
• Habitat modification!!!!!
• Community interactions!!!!

4. Stream salamanders as focal species
• Environmental sentinels
• Disturbance intolerance???
• Plethodontids & the Wilder
–Dunn Hypothesis
• Major form of biomass in
headwater streams
• Role in nutrient cycles and
transportation
• Role played in trophic
cacades
• Dependency on stream-
riparian/watershed
interactions

5. Threats and conservation of amphibians
• Massive population declines
– 32% Redlisted globally
• Impacts of land
development &
anthropocentric land-use
practices
– Altered stream morphology
& hydrology
– Disturbances in the
watershed and riparian
areas
– Degradation in water
quality
– Biotic homogenization

6. Study Area – Upstate South Carolina
• Southern Appalachian Mountains and Southern United States
• Rich in biodiversity & endemism Kevin Kubach

7. Study Area – Upstate South Carolina
• Level III EPA ecoregion: Blue Ridge & Piedmont
• Four major river basins: Savannah, Saluda, Catawba, Broad

8. Study Area – Upstate South Carolina
• High rate of
land
development,
urbanization,
population
growth
• Intensive land
use history
• Pressure on
native
biodiversity!!!

9. Project Objectives
• How different land-use activities in the riparian zone
and the watershed affect the habitat association of
stream-dwelling salamanders?
• Does historical alterations in the natural habitats affect
the current distribution and habitat occupancy of
stream salamanders?
• Does anthropogenic land-use practices alter
community interactions (competition) among stream
salamanders?

10. Methods & Materials
• Randomized block design
– Blocked across level IV ecoregions & river basins
– 40 sampling locations
– land-use types: forested areas, agricultural lands,
residential areas, & urban areas
• Field transect survey
– Stream transects in the wetted channel (100 m)
– Riparian belt transects (100 m x 5 m)
– Visual observation & active searching
– Random sampling : sequence/time among different
sites

11. Active Searching
• Stream transects – Diurnally searching all stream channel habitats
with rectangle-framed kick nets, D-framed nets and dip nets
• Belt transects – Nocturnally searching all riparian microhabitats
• Date, starting /ending time, weather & the crew size are recorded
• Will be surveyed for two consecutive years (April – July)
• Identification and specimen preservation

12. Methodology: Determining Habitat Association
• Nested analysis to determine the effects of
– Different land-use activities in the riparian areas
– Different habitats variables in the sampling location on
species composition of stream salamanders
– Metrics: Relative nestedness and discrepancy measure
• Categorization of species assemblages reflecting
species response to land-use gradient
– Disturbance exploiters, disturbance adapters, disturbance
avoiders
– Ordination (NMDS)

13. Methodology: Determining Habitat Association
• 12 habitat variables will be recorded along transects
– To indicate land development, disturbance, & ecological
conditions of the sampling locations
– A correlation test to determine correlation between habitat
variables and species occurrence

14. Methodology: Effects of Historical Land-use
1944 2010
• Comparison of historical aerial photos (1920-60) with LULC 2001
• Spatial scale: 200 m, 500 m, 1000 m–radius from sampling points
• Calculate proportional coverage for the four land-use types
• Use historical land-use cover as a variable for the correlation

15. Methodology: Community Interactions
Vs
• Four riparian land-use types simulated in artificial streams
• Experimental species: Urban adapter Vs Urban avoider
• Coexistence and isolation
• Observations/measurements: body weight, snout-vent
length, spatial occupancy, # individuals alive
• Assess: (i) percentage survival; (ii) percentage body weight change;
(iii) percent change in body length; (iv) growth rate; (v) daily
movement range

16. Acknowledgement:
Dr Mark Scott & Stream Bioassessment team, SC DNR
Dr John Hains, Dr Hap Wheeler, Dept of Biological Sciences
Dr Bryan Brown, Dept of Forestry & Natural Resources
Highlands Biological Station, NC