A Comparison of Lowland and Upland Forests of Fairy Stone State Park , Virginia . II . Small Terrestrial Vertebrates and Songbirds

Small terrestrial vertebrate and songbird abundance, species richness, and species composition were studied in forests in both lowland and upland topographic positions at Fairy Stone State Park, Patrick County, Virginia. Songbird species were sampled using point counts and herpetofauna and small mammals were sampled using live traps. The species richness and abundance of songbirds did not differ markedly between upland and lowland forest plots, although there were some changes in species composition. Small mammal and reptile communities were similar in species richness, abundance, and composition between upland and lowland forests. Amphibian species were observed in higher abundance on upland sites, mostly due to a large number of captures of juvenile American Toads. These toads, however, emerged from water sources on lowland sites. Nearly all frogs were on lowland sites and we had incidental observations of four stream salamanders at lowland sites.