Description

Due to the suppression of natural fires in longleaf pine ecosystems, anthropogenic management practices, including prescribed burns, thinning, and herbicide, are utilized in order to sustain and regenerate this habitat. These practices may have positive or negative effects on the herpetofauna. My data indicate a prolonged sampling period of up to 21 years may be required in order to adequately quantify the effects of longleaf pine management practices on species richness of amphibians and reptiles. Variation between reptiles and amphibians are among years and sites play the dominant role in explaining differences in species composition.