A common mesofilter approach to conservation of biological diversity and ecosystem function used in agricultural and urban landscapes is maintenance of wetlands and an undisturbed terrestrial buffer surrounding wetlands. Although it is generally accepted that forest buffers protect wetland‐associated biological diversity and ecosystem function, the effectiveness and optimal spatial extent of buffers is still an area of debate. During 2007 and 2008 we surveyed amphibians and environmental conditions associated with 54 depression wetlands on the Delmarva Peninsula of Maryland, USA, to examine the role of forest buffers and wetland characteristics in structuring amphibian communities. Forest cover within a 50‐m buffer surrounding wetlands was correlated (r = −0.81) with wetland pH but no other wetland characteristics. Wetland pH, canopy cover, hydroperiod, and adjacent forest cover were important predictors of wetland use by individual amphibian species, with many species more likely to occur at wetlands that dried late in the hydrological year and with open canopies. At least one common species preferred circumneutral pH and several restricted‐distribution species preferred lower pH (<5). Contrary to expectations, relationships between species occurrence and adjacent forest cover were negative. Our results suggest that current regulations that provide buffers of 30 m or less do not provide adequate protection of wetland water chemistry but that forest encroachment into wetlands may be a threat to the integrity of amphibian communities and should be the target of monitoring, future research, and management efforts. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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两栖动物组合结构，湿地pH和森林覆盖率之间的关系

保护农业和城市景观中生物多样性和生态系统功能的常见中观过滤方法是维持湿地和湿地周围不受干扰的陆地缓冲区。尽管人们普遍认为森林缓冲带保护与湿地有关的生物多样性和生态系统功能，但是缓冲带的有效性和最佳空间范围仍是一个争论的领域。在2007年至2008年期间，我们调查了与美国马里兰州德尔马半岛上的54个洼地湿地相关的两栖动物和环境状况，以研究森林缓冲带和湿地特征在构建两栖动物群落中的作用。湿地周围50 m缓冲区内的森林覆盖率是相关的（r = -0.81），但没有其他湿地特征。湿地的pH值，冠层覆盖度，水周期和邻近的森林覆盖度是单个两栖动物对湿地利用的重要预测因子，许多物种更可能出现在水文年后期干燥且具有开放冠层的湿地中。至少有一种常见的物种更喜欢周围pH，而一些限制性分布的物种更喜欢较低的pH（<5）。与预期相反，物种发生与邻近森林覆盖率之间的关系为负。我们的结果表明，目前提供30 m或更短缓冲的法规无法充分保护湿地水化学物质，但森林入侵湿地可能对两栖动物群落的完整性构成威胁，应成为监测，未来研究，和管理方面的努力。©2021野生动物协会。