• Perkins, Dustin Wakefield
  University of Maine Graduate School
  

Riparian areas are one of the most complex, diverse, and dynamic environments in forested ecosystems. Amphibians are excellent candidates to study in riparian areas because they are so sensitive to forest management, have high diversity in riparian areas, and are one of the most abundant vertebrates in temperate forests. I conducted a field experiment in which 15 headwater streams in  western Maine were randomly assigned to five treatments, and I examined them for 1 year prior to harvest and for 2 years after harvests. I also undertook a retrospective study on 12 headwater streams representing three treatments where harvests had occurred 4-10 years earlier. I used pitfall traps and cover-controlled active-searches to sample terrestrial stream amphibians to determine: a) if amphibians can define the riparians zone based on species occurrence and abundance: b) if an how different types of timber management affect amphibian communities: and, c) if sticks placed in pitfall traps will reduce the incidental capture and subsequent mortality of small mammals.