Breeding Dynamics, Diet, and Body Condition of the Hong Kong Newt (Paramesotriton hongkongensis)

Does forest extent affect salamander survival? Evidence from a long‐term demographic study of a tropical newt

“…Unfortunately, we were not able to reliably age individual newts in the present study, as size has been proven to be a poor indicator of age for other species of newts, and skeletochronology may not be a reliable method for aging tropical species (Halliday & Verrell, ; Kusrini & Alford, ). Consistent with what was reported in an earlier study (Fu et al., ), newts from well‐forested sites (MTL and HC) were longer than those from less‐forested sites (KP and PNS) (Table ). We suspect the negative effect of size on survival and lower survival observed in a well‐forested site could be related to the difference in age structure among our sites.…”

“…In Hong Kong, P. hongkongensis primarily occupies second‐ to fourth‐order rocky hill streams during the breeding season (September–March) and migrates to the adjacent riparian forest following breeding (Fu et al., ; Karsen, Lau, & Bogadek, ; Lau & Dudgeon, ). Female newts typically oviposit on trailing, submerged bank‐side vegetation, or among leaf litter and plant roots within slow‐flowing stream pools.…”

“…; Sattler & Reichenbach, ; Knapp, Haas, Harpole, & Kirkpatrick, ); pond‐breeding ambystomatids responded mostly negatively to clear‐cuts and partial clear‐cuts in terms of adult survival, juvenile survival, and water loss (Semlitsch et al., ); monthly survival of Plethodon shermani from harvested forest plots was 6% lower than those from unharvested plots (Connette & Semlitsch, ). Terrestrial habitat quality is likely to be especially significant for salamandrids, which, like many terrestrial plethodontids, spend substantial portions of their life cycles on land (Fu et al., ; Gibbs, ) and whose populations are highly susceptible to forest degradation (Schmidt et al. ; Cushman, ; Denoël, ).…”

“…To date, long-term demographic studies on newts (Family Salamandridae) have focused on temperate species (Griffiths, Sewell, & McCrea, 2010;Schmidt, Schaub, & Steinfartz, 2007), while research on tropical salamandrids is relatively scant (but see Fu, Karraker, & Dudgeon, 2013). Such geographic bias is not limited to newts, as studies on plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates from Southeast Asia, which is characterized by high species diversity and high threat levels, accounted for only 6% of the conservation literature published from 2011 to 2015 (i Marco et al, 2017;Sodhi, Koh, Brook, & Ng, 2004).…”

“…Terrestrial salamanders' response to deforestation/timber harvest in the United States is well documented: Relative counts of terrestrial plethodontids decreased by onefold to fivefold following clearcuts (Petranka et al 1993;Sattler & Reichenbach, 1998;Knapp, Haas, Harpole, & Kirkpatrick, 2003); pond-breeding ambystomatids responded mostly negatively to clear-cuts and partial clear-cuts in terms of adult survival, juvenile survival, and water loss (Semlitsch et al, 2009); monthly survival of Plethodon shermani from harvested forest plots was 6% lower than those from unharvested plots (Connette & Semlitsch, 2015). Terrestrial habitat quality is likely to be especially significant for salamandrids, which, like many terrestrial plethodontids, spend substantial portions of their life cycles on land (Fu et al, 2013;Gibbs, 1998) and whose populations are highly susceptible to forest degradation (Schmidt et al 2005;Cushman, 2006;Denoël, 2012 (Dudgeon & Corlett, 2011). However, postoccupation protection of the countryside, and the establishment of an extensive country park system in the 1970s, has allowed the regrowth of extensive tropical secondary forests, which are characterized by a mixture of native and non-native trees (e.g., Lophostemon confertus, Machilus spp., Schefflera heptaphylla; Dudgeon & Corlett, 2011).…”