11 



Timber harvest 



Timber harvest could potentially affect Coeur d'Alene 

 salamanders in a number of ways including increasing 

 sedimentation, removal of shading, and altering groundwater flow. 



Sedimentation from logged areas may fill interstitial habitat 

 in and adjacent to streams (Corn and Bury 1989) and render those 

 habitats inaccessible to Coeur d'Alene salamanders or aquatic 

 insects, their primary food (Roby et al. 1977) . Removal of 

 overstory canopy could modify water temperature and affect 

 salamanders or their prey (Brown and Krygier 1970) . Elimination 

 of canopy cover between salamander sites could reduce or 

 terminate movement of salamanders between sites, increase 

 fragmentation of populations, and, consequently, increase the 

 likelihood of localized extinctions. Finally, on a landscape 

 level, logging (and reading) alter watershed functions by 

 increasing total water yield, increasing peak spring flows, and 

 reducing low summer flows. Post-logging changes in the water 

 table could flood or dry up Coeur d'Alene salamander habitat, 

 even if no activities occur in the immediate vicinity of sites. 

 Road and trail construction 



Sedimentation and watershed alterations caused by road 

 construction could have effects similar to or even worse than 

 that of timber harvest. Blasting or quarrying talus for road 

 construction near seeps can also eliminate habitat and kill 

 salamanders. For salamanders foraging at roadside seeps, traffic 

 mortality may be a factor, although no data are available. 



