Relative abundance and species richness of herpetofauna in forest stands in Pennsylvania

The relative abundance and species richness of herpetofauna was investigate d to assess the impact of recent logging operations in 47 forest stands in northeastern Pennsylvania during 1996 and 1997. Stands including nonindustr ial private forestlands and public lands that have received some type of ha rvesting within the last 8 yr ranged from near complete overstory tree cove r to complete removal of overstory cover. Stands included the two dominant forest types in the region: northern hardwood (Betula, Fagus, Prunus, Acer, and Tsuga spp.) and oak-hickory (Quercus and Carya spp.). A total of 8,181 individuals of 26 species (12 salamander, 7 snake, 6 frog, and 1 toad spec ies) were observed in the study stands. The relative abundance and species richness of salamanders increased significantly with increasing retention o f tree basal area. Forest stands containing > 15 m(2)/ha live tree basal ar ea appeared to be a threshold level for high salamander abundance. Snake sp ecies abundance and richness increased significantly with increasing remova l of tree basal area. The abundance of anuran species showed no significant relationship with amount of tree basal area removal, but the relative abun dance and species richness of anurans depended on the presence of water wit hin or bordering the stands. Forest type did not change the overall respons e of herpetofauna community composition to forest harvesting, although sala manders were more abundant in northern hardwood stands, and snakes were mor e abundant in oak-hickory stands. Patterns end threshold levels of abundanc e and species richness of herpetofauna determined in this study may be used to maintain the abundance and richness of selected species when harvesting forest stands.