A Retrospective Study on the Effects of Urbanization on the Plethodontid Salamander Species of Streams Surrounding Emory University 公开
Read, Cooper (Spring 2023)
Published
Abstract
The percentage of the population living in urban areas has grown immensely across the world, and is only expected to grow over the coming decades. Urbanization has many impacts on the environment, especially freshwater systems, including habitat fragmentation, runoff, sedimentation, heat pollution, and overall biodiversity loss. Amphibians, especially salamanders, are among the most affected by this pollution, and are an integral component of many stream ecosystems. Atlanta offers interesting opportunities to study this impact. Fifty years ago, Orser and Shure performed a study on the populations of Desmognathus spp. salamanders in streams in and around the campus of Emory University. Opportunities to resample and compare populations to evaluate environmental changes are rare, especially in a region that has undergone drastic changes in recent decades like Emory University. Therefore, seven sites spread across five streams in and around Emory University were selected for sampling of salamander populations. Sampling took place from August to October, with each stream being subjected to a monthly sampling of environmental conditions and four monthly samples of the stream’s salamanders. All observed salamanders were recorded, with the two most common salamander species in the area, the Spotted Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus conanti) and the Two-Lined Salamander (Eurycea cirrigera) being subjected to a mark-recapture population estimate. The data were then analyzed utilizing several statistical methods to compare the populations among the streams, the environmental conditions among the streams, and if there was any correlation between the two. While an abundance of data were collected that provided insight into the streams, statistical significance was difficult to determine. However, the data that were collected aligned well with the findings of Orser, suggesting that the salamander populations remained stable in spite of urbanization. While these data do not offer concrete conclusions on their own, they offer a valuable starting point for more regular monitoring projects in the region.
Table of Contents
Chapter I
Introduction 1
Chapter II
Methodology 7
Chapter III
Results 17
Chapter IV
Discussion 40
References 49
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