Timber harvest impacts amphibians differently during life stages
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 - 11:35
in Biology & Nature
Frogs are croaking in clear-cut forests, but not exactly in their traditional manner. University of Missouri researchers found that removing all of the trees from a section of the forest had a negative effect on amphibians during their later life cycles, but had some positive effects during amphibians' aquatic larva stages at the beginning of their lives. To lessen the negative effects during the later life stage, Semlitsch recommends partial or selection cuts to forests rather than completely removing trees from an area. Removing only a portion of trees and canopy allows amphibians to persist better.