Potential reduction in terrestrial salamander ranges associated with Marcellus shale development

• Published in: Biological conservation 2014-12, Vol.180, p.233-240
• Main Authors: Brand, Adrianne B., Wiewel, Amber N.M., Grant, Evan H. Campbell
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amphibia. Reptilia; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Caudata; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Forests; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gas wells; General aspects; General aspects. Techniques; Habitats; Hydraulic fracturing; Marcellus shale; Mathematical models; Methods and techniques (sampling, tagging, trapping, modelling...); Natural gas; Natural gas exploration; Occurrence modeling; Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking; Plethodon; Plethodon richmondi; Salamanders; Shale; Shale gas; Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
• ISSN: 0006-3207; 1873-2917
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2014.10.008

•We model the occurrence of terrestrial salamanders in the Marcellus shale play.•We predict range losses from two future development scenarios.•Range losses vary greatly with the spatial pattern of development.•Plethodon electromorphus, P. wehrlei, and P. richmondi had highest predicted losses.•There is high uncertainty in species ranges, indicating pressing research need. Natural gas production from the Marcellus shale is rapidly increasing in the northeastern United States. Most of the endemic terrestrial salamander species in the region are classified as ‘globally secure’ by the IUCN, primarily because much of their ranges include state- and federally protected lands, which have been presumed to be free from habitat loss. However, the proposed and ongoing development of the Marcellus gas resources may result in significant range restrictions for these and other terrestrial forest salamanders. To begin to address the gaps in our knowledge of the direct impacts of shale gas development, we developed occurrence models for five species of terrestrial plethodontid salamanders found largely within the Marcellus shale play. We predicted future Marcellus shale development under several scenarios. Under scenarios of 10,000, 20,000, and 50,000 new gas wells, we predict 4%, 8%, and 20% forest loss, respectively, within the play. Predictions of habitat loss vary among species, but in general, Plethodon electromorphus and Plethodonwehrlei are predicted to lose the greatest proportion of forested habitat within their ranges if future Marcellus development is based on characteristics of the shale play. If development is based on current well locations, Plethodonrichmondi is predicted to lose the greatest proportion of habitat. Models showed high uncertainty in species’ ranges and emphasize the need for distribution data collected by widespread and repeated, randomized surveys.