Temperature- and Density-dependent Effects on Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum) Growth and Life History

Project Abstract

Climate warming affects global biodiversity, causing species to alter their life history and trophic interactions. Predicting the effects of climate warming on ecosystem function is a difficult task as the biological traits that lead to these responses are poorly understood and climate warming’s effects on individual taxa can be highly variable. Amphibians serve as excellent bioindicators of ecosystem health, enabling them to act as early-warning sentinels of climate change. Polyphenic amphibians, including many salamander species, are particularly useful models for understanding the ecological effects of global change because morph production is environmentally-induced. Facultative paedomorphosis is a process by which individuals can either metamorphose into terrestrial adults or retain their larval, aquatic form as mature adults. Because environmental conditions such as temperature and density affect paedomorph production, and paedomorphs are keystone predators on invertebrate communities, climate-induced changes in paedomorph production should directly affect predation of invertebrate assemblages and thus prey for future salamander populations. I am experimentally testing the effect of climate warming on mole salamander eco-evolutionary feedbacks, including the resulting predator-prey interaction between salamanders and invertebrates and subsequent carryover effects on the next generation of salamanders. I am using 36 tanks, half of which are heated to one degree Celsius above ambient and using three densities of salamanders: none, low, and high. I measure length, mass and maturity of salamanders, as well as measuring length and order of zooplankton and macroinvertebrates. By manipulating temperature and density simultaneously, which naturally interact to create variation in paedomorph production, I am assessing how climate warming may act in density-dependent fashion to fuel these feedbacks, and therefore affect the surrounding ecosystem.

Conference

Conference Name: Southeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation 2025 Annual Meeting

Dates: March 13-16 2025

Sponsoring Body: Southeast Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation

Conference Website: https://www.separc.org/2024-separc-annual-meeting-copy

Funding Type

Travel Grant

Academic College

Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering and Technology

Area/Major/Minor

Biology / Watershed Science

Degree

M.S. in Wildlife and Conservation Biology

Classification

Graduate

Name

Dr. Howard Whiteman

Academic College

Jesse D. Jones College of Science, Engineering and Technology

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