Log, Rock, and a Gradient of Choice: Speleomantes strinatii Adjusts Shelter Use with Stream Distance

Understanding microhabitat preferences of endangered species and the drivers involved in this selection are crucial for understanding their ecology and implementing conservation actions. This issue gains more importance with amphibians, which are known to be constrained by specific environmental conditions and are among the most threatened organisms globally. We assessed shelter preference of Speleomantes strinatii in three different contiguous habitats (mixed broadleaf forest, transitional mixed-chestnut and a chestnut forest used both for fruit and coppice), located at different distances from an Apennine first-order stream. We placed 22 plots in these three habitats and searched for salamanders under the potential available shelters (logs and rocks). Using a Bayesian generalized linear mixed-effects model, we assessed the role of distance from watercourse, shelter type and area in salamanders’ microhabitat selection. As expected, salamanders were mostly found in the plots near the stream. However, stream distance seemed to not be a crucial driver of amphibians’ detection under a shelter. Indeed, salamanders increasingly used wood shelters at greater distances from the stream relative to rocks, suggesting that logs seemed to compensate for the distance from the stream. In the managed habitat, trunks and branches cut during coppicing or chestnut harvest, as well as naturally fallen wood, were often left on the ground, thereby increasing the availability of shelter for salamanders. Our findings highlight how properly managed forests may enable the persistence of forest salamanders, even in human-exploited environments, representing a cost-effective solution for maintaining soil and forest biodiversity.