JCSET | Watershed Studies Institute Research Symposium
Temperature- and Density-dependent Effects on Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum Growth, Life History, and Trophic Cascades
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Graduate
Major
Wildlife and Conservation Biology
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Howard Whiteman
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
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.
Spring Scholars Week 2025
Watershed Studies Institute Research Symposium
Temperature- and Density-dependent Effects on Mole Salamander (Ambystoma talpoideum Growth, Life History, and Trophic Cascades
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.
