Data from: An experimental test of buffer utility as a technique for managing pool-breeding amphibians

Vegetated buffers are used extensively to manage wetland-dependent
wildlife. Despite widespread application, buffer utility has not been
experimentally validated for most species. To address this gap, we
conducted a six-year, landscape-scale experiment, testing how buffers of
different widths affect the demographic structure of two amphibian species
at 11 ephemeral pools in a working forest of the northeastern U.S. We
randomly assigned each pool to one of three treatments (i.e., reference,
100m buffer, 30m buffer) and clearcut to create buffers. We captured all
spotted salamanders and wood frogs breeding in each pool and examined the
impacts of treatment and hydroperiod on breeding-population abundance, sex
ratio, and recapture rate. The negative effects of clearcutting tended to
increase as forest-buffer width decreased and be strongest for salamanders
and when other stressors were present (e.g., at short-hydroperiod pools).
Recapture rates were reduced in the 30m, but not 100m, treatment.
Throughout the experiment for frogs, and during the first year post-cut
for salamanders, the predicted mean proportion of recaptured adults in the
30m treatment was only 62% and 40%, respectively, of that in the reference
treatment. Frog sex ratio and abundance did not differ across treatments,
but salamander sex ratios were increasingly male-biased in both cut
treatments. By the final year, there were on average, only about 40% and
65% as many females predicted in the 100m and 30m treatments,
respectively, compared to the first year. Breeding salamanders at
short-hydroperiod pools were about 10% as abundant in the 100m versus
reference treatment. Our study demonstrates that buffers partially
mitigate the impacts of habitat disturbance on wetland-dependent
amphibians, but buffer width and hydroperiod critically mediate that
process. We provide the first experimental evidence showing that 30-m-wide
buffers may be insufficient for maintaining resilient breeding populations
of pool-dependent amphibians, at least during the first six years
post-disturbance.