Three decades of urbanization: Estimating the impact of land-cover change on stream salamander populations
Steven J. Pricea,*, Michael E. Dorcasa, Alisa L. Gallantb, Robert W. Klaverb, John D. Willsonc
aDepartment
of Biology, Davidson College, Davidson, NC 28035-7118, United States
bUSGS Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science, Sioux
Falls, SD 57198, United States
cSavannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802,
United States
Abstract
Urbanization has become the dominant form of landscape disturbance in
parts of the United States. Small streams in the Piedmont region of the
eastern United States support high densities of salamanders and are often
the first habitats to be affected by landscape-altering factors such as
urbanization. We used US Geological Survey land cover data from 1972 to
2000 and a relation between stream salamanders and land cover, established
from recent research, to estimate the impact of contemporary land-cover
change on the abundance of stream salamanders near Davidson, North Carolina,
a Piedmont locale that has experienced rapid urbanization during this
time. Our analysis indicates that southern two-lined salamander (Eurycea
cirrigera) populations have decreased from 32% to 44% while northern
dusky salamanders (Desmognathus fuscus) have decreased from 21%
to 30% over the last three decades. Our results suggest that the widespread
conversion of forest to urban land in small catchments has likely resulted
in a substantial decline of populations of stream salamanders and could
have serious effects on stream ecosystems.
Keywords:
Desmognathus fuscus, Eurycea cirrigera, Land cover change, North
Carolina, Northern dusky salamander, Southern two-lined salamander, Urban
sprawl
* Corresponding author: Tel.: +1 704 894 2868; fax: +1 704 894 2512.
E-mail addresses:
sjprice@davidson.edu (S.J. Price), midorcas@davidson.edu (M.E. Dorcas),
gallant@usgs.gov (A.L. Gallant), bklaver@usgs.gov (R.W. Klaver), willson@srel.edu
(J.D. Willson).
SREL Reprint #3004
Price, S. J., M. E. Dorcas, A. L. Gallant, R. W. Klaver and J. D. Willson. 2006. Three decades of urbanization: Estimating the impact of land-cover change on stream salamander populations. Biological Conservation 133:436-441.
