Coverboards are being used more frequently as an efficient method to inventory and monitor terrestrial salamanders. In summer 2006, we established a study to inventory and monitor salamanders at Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, a residential environmental learning center located in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. Our goals were to: 1) compare the effectiveness of two different types of coverboards in attracting salamanders; 2) compare salamander diversity and abundance between hardwood and eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) forests; 3) establish a long-term salamander monitoring project; and 4) create a wildlife research project that engages children and adult volunteers as citizen scientists. We selected two hardwood and two eastern hemlock sites. We established five rows of eight coverboards, for a total of 40 coverboards per site. We used two types of coverboards: 1) 30.5- × 30.5- × 2.5-cm squares of untreated eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), the size recommended by the Patuxtent Wildlife Research Center's Terrestrial Salamander Monitoring Program; and 2) ~30.5-cm diameter × 5-cm tree “cookies” cut from recently-downed hardwood trees. The starting point of the first transect and board type was randomly selected; thereafter, boards were placed 6 m apart in an alternating checkerboard pattern. We checked coverboards approximately six weeks after being set. We used Oakton Mini-IR temperature sensors to determine surface temperature under each coverboard. Surface moisture beneath the boards was estimated by using a qualitative scale: 1 = dry; 2 = some moisture present on surface; 3 = surface and soil moist to touch. We made 48 site visits and captured a total of 49 salamanders in 1,899 board checks from August 2006 to August 2007. Tree “cookies” harbored nearly four times as many salamanders (n = 39 or 0.054 salamanders/board) than square coverboards (n = 10 or 0.014 salamanders/board). Hardwood sites had more salamanders occupying coverboards (n = 44 or 0.052 salamanders/board) than sites dominated by eastern hemlock (n = 5 or 0.009 salamanders/board). The most common species of salamander were the southern redback salamander (Plethodon serratus) (n = 30), southern zigzag salamander (P. ventralis) (n = 8), and northern slimy salamander (P. glutinosus) (n = 5). Surface temperature under tree “cookies” was lower (x¯ = 15.1° C) than square boards (x¯ = 15.7° C). Surface moisture beneath tree “cookies” was higher (x¯ = 2.22) than under square boards (x¯ = 1.72). (Continues . . . see PDF file for this paper)
