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The Effects Of Mountaintop Removal Mining And Valley Fills On Stream Salamander Communities, Brenee' Lynn Muncy
The Effects Of Mountaintop Removal Mining And Valley Fills On Stream Salamander Communities, Brenee' Lynn Muncy
Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources
Mountaintop removal mining and valley filling (MTR/VF) is a common form of land conversion in Central Appalachia and threatens the integrity of stream ecosystems. We investigated the effects of MTR/VF on stream salamander occupancy probabilities and community structure by conducting area constrained active searches for stream salamanders within intermittent streams located in mature forest (i.e., control) and those impacted by MTR/VF. During March to June of 2013, we detected five stream salamander species (Desmognathus fuscus, D. monticol, Eurycea cirrigera, Pseudotriton ruber, and Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) and found that the probability of occupancy was greatly reduced in MTR/VF streams compared …