ENSATINA ESCHSCHOLTZII NESTS AT A MANAGED FOREST SITE IN OREGON

We sampled terrestrial salamanders in riparian and upland areas within a 40-y-old managed forest site in western Oregon. We found 303 ensatinas (0.015 animals/m2) and 14 nests (0.0007 nests/m2, 0.05 nests/ensatina) within 20,280 m2 of forested habitat surveyed. Clutch size averaged 8.3 eggs (range 3 to 11), comparable to previous reports from Washington but lower than reported for California. Of 14 nests found, 11 were in upland forest, >30 m from streams. Nests were typically on or under downed wood. Limited downed wood recruitment was apparent from decay class distributions. Managed wood recruitment may be necessary in such young stands to maintain critical life history functions of the ensatina and other terrestrial salamanders.