the ecosystem’s nutrients. Due to their critical role in forest condition, as well as their susceptibility to habitat disruptions, plethodontid salamander populations are highly indicative of ecosystem health. ConservationPlethodon hubrichti is recognized by the USDA Forest Service as a Sensitive Species because of its limited distribution. It does not have any special legal state or federal protection. Where it occurs, the species may be very successful, and holds its own in undisturbed sympatric zones, but the Peaks of Otter salamander may be negatively affected by activities that alter the forest canopy, such as timbering. Long-term (12-year and short-term (two-year timbering impacts have been studied and documented in detail. Plethodontid salamanders are lungless and require moist skin for gas exchange, implying the necessity of moist habitats, which can be altered by canopy loss. The reduction of forest canopy by any sort of timbering has many possible ramifications on P. hubrichti food resources, as well. Peaks of Otter salamanders were able to consume a higher proportion of soft-bodied prey items in mature hardwood stands that had never undergone timbering. Soft-bodied invertebrates, such as collembolans, are a more nutritious source of food, and a diet with a high proportion of these prey items may indicate a higher-quality habitat overall. Short-term timbering impacts Sattler and Reichenbach studied the short-term effects of timbering on the Peaks of Otter salamander. Twelve sites were used, with four sites each randomly assigned to one of three treatments: clearcut (complete canopy removal), shelterwood (partial canopy removal), and reference (no timbering). Population baselines were established the year before timbering began, by conducting night mark/recapture surveys of surface-active animals. Establishing a baseline is a vital step in studying timbering effects, as salamander distribution and dispersal patterns may be clumped, and without a preliminary reference point, it may not be possible to separate dispersal effects and individual site differences from timbering effects. Subsequent surveys were conducted in the next year, after timbering was complete and the year following.Plethodon hubrichti populations were found to remain relatively stable in the shelterwood and reference sites, with the exception of a decrease in the percentage of juveniles in the shelterwood sites. In contrast, the clearcut sites demonstrated a statistically significant decrease in salamander populations. In the second year after clearcutting occurred, only 30% of the baseline population remained at the sites. Estimates of population size from the mark/recapture study demonstrated the progressive decline from year to