Virginia Project: Indices of Biological Integrity - Efficacy of Salamanders in Mined Landscapes of Appalachia

Virginia Project

Indices of Biological Integrity - Efficacy of Salamanders in Mined Landscapes of Appalachia

July 2012 - May 2014

Personnel

Participating Agencies

Virginia Center for Coal and Energy Research

This project is current in its formulation stage - however, we are seeking to understand if using aquatic and terrestrial salamanders provide similar or better information on mine-land recovery and ecological integrity than traditional taxa such as aquatic macro-invertebrates.

Research Publications

Research Publications	Publication Date
Sweeten, S.E., and W.M. Ford. 2015. Effects of Microhabitat and Land Use on Stream Salamander Abundance in the Southwest Virginia Coalfields. 2nd Proceedings of Environmental Considerations in Energy Production. Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc, Englewood, Colorado, USA. 19 p.Considerations in Energy Production (in review). \| Abstract	September 2015	Large-scale land uses such as residential wastewater discharge and coal mining practices, particularly surface coal extraction and associated valley fills, are of particular ecological concern in central Appalachia. Identification and quantification of both alterations across scales are a necessary first-step to mitigate negative consequences to biota. In central Appalachian headwater streams absent of fish, salamanders are the dominant, most abundant vertebrate predator providing a significant intermediate trophic role. Stream salamander species are considered to be sensitive to aquatic stressors and environmental alterations, and past research has shown linkages among microhabitat parameters, large-scale land use such as urbanization and logging with salamander abundances. However, little is known about these linkages in the coalfields of central Appalachia. In the summer of 2013, we visited 70 sites (sampled three times each) in the southwest Virginia coalfields to survey salamanders and quantify stream and riparian microhabitat parameters. Using an information-theoretic framework we compared the effects of microhabitat and large-scale land use on salamander abundances. Our findings indicate that dusky salamander (Desmognathus spp.) abundances are more correlated to microhabitat parameters such as canopy cover than to subwatershed land uses. Brook salamander (Eurycea spp.) abundances show strong negative associations to the suspended sediments and stream substrate embeddedness. Neither Desmognathus spp. nor Eurycea spp. abundances were influenced by water conductivity. These suggest protection or restoration of riparian habitats and erosion control is an important conservation component for maintaining stream salamanders in the mined landscapes of central Appalachia
Sweeten, S.E., A. Silvis, and W.M. Ford. 2015. Seasonal Variability in Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages in the Southwest Virginia Coalfields. In the 2nd Proceedings of Environmental Considerations in Energy Production. Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc, Englewood, Colorado, USA. 9 p.	September 2015
Sweeten, S.E. and W.M. Ford. Effects of microhabitat and large-scale land use on stream salamander occupancy in the coalfields of Central Appalachia. Journal of Ecology and Natural Environment 8:129-141	September 2016
Sweeten, S.E. and W.M. Ford. 2016. Validation of a stream and riparian habitat assessment protocol using stream salamanders in the southwest Virginia coalfields. Journal of The American Society of Mining and Reclamation 5:45-46 \| Abstract \| Publisher Website	June 2016	Within the central Appalachia Coalfields, the aquatic impacts of large-scale land uses are of particular ecological concern. Coal mining practices, particularly surface coal extraction and associated valley fills, both directly and indirectly effect physical stream habitat and water quality. Additionally, many residential areas in this region are concentrated in the stream valley whereby they impact stream and riparian habitat. For example, runoff and untreated sewage into area streams continue to degrade water quality. Identification and quantification of land use impacts to ecosystems are a necessary first step to aid in mitigation of negative consequences to biota. However, oftentimes quantifying physical environmental quality such as stream and riparian habitat can be quite difficult, particularly when there are time or fiscal limitations. Standard protocols such as the U.S. EPA’s Stream Habitat Rapid Bioassessment Protocol have been established to be cost and time effective (Barbour et al 1999). This protocol estimates ten different stream and riparian conditions on a scale of 0 to 20. However, using estimations can be problematic due to large potential variation in the scoring depending on differences in training, experience, and opinion of the personnel doing the estimations. In order to help negate this and provide a simplified process, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) developed a functional assessment for streams that measures 11 stream and riparian parameters along with watershed land use to calculate three different scores, a hydrology score, biogeochemical score, and habitat score. In our study, we examined the correlation of stream salamanders to the three USACE scores. In the summer of 2013, we visited 70 sites (sampled three times each) in the southwest Virginia Coalfields to collect salamanders and quantify stream and riparian microhabitat parameters. Using an occupancy analysis we found strong relationships among three Desmognathus spp. and the USACE Habitat FCI score.

Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations	Publication Date
Sweeten, S.E. 2015. The Effects of Microhabitat and Land Use on Stream Salamander Occupancy and Abundance in the Southwest Virginia Coalfields. PhD Dissertation, VPI & SU, Blacksburg. 231 p.	May 2015

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Virginia Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources

Virginia Project

Indices of Biological Integrity - Efficacy of Salamanders in Mined Landscapes of Appalachia

July 2012 - May 2014

Personnel

Participating Agencies

Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Units Program: Virginia
Education, Research and Technical Assistance for Managing Our Natural Resources