Ontogenetic Patterns of Agonistic Behavior in a Guild of Larval Ambystomatid Salamanders

Mott, Cy L.; Sparling, Donald W.

doi:10.1670/07-236r.1

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…For each larval pair, individuals were placed in separate plastic cylinders, acclimatized for 5 min, and released. For both larvae over the following 30 min, we calculated combined totals of the behaviors: MOVE TOWARD – one salamander moves toward in the direction of another such that continued movement would result in contact; LUNGE – one salamander rapidly and abruptly moves toward another but does not intersect with any part of the other individual's body; BITE – one salamander grabs another with the mouth (definitions from Walls & Jaeger ) and MUTUAL APPROACH – ‘move toward’ performed by both larvae simultaneously (Mott & Sparling ), all of which served as indicators of ‘individual aggression’. For both control (two uninjured larvae) and treatment (one uninjured and one injured larva) conditions, we conducted 25 behavioral trials, and each larva was utilized for a single trial.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Non‐Lethal Injury, Body Size, and Foraging Ecology in an Amphibian Intraguild Predator

Mott

Steffen

2013

Ethology

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Theoretical treatments of intraguild predation and its effects on behavioral interactions regard the phenomenon as a size‐structured binary response wherein predation among competitors is completely successful or completely unsuccessful. However, intermediate outcomes occur when individuals escape intraguild (IG) interactions with non‐lethal injuries. While the effects of wounds for prey include compromised mobility and increased predation risk, the consequences of similar injuries among top predators are not well understood, despite the implications for species interactions. Using an amphibian IG predator, Ambystoma opacum (Caudata: Ambystomatidae), we examined associations between non‐lethal injuries and predator body size, foraging strategy, microhabitat selection, and intraspecific agonistic interactions. Wounds were common among IG predators, generally increasing in frequency throughout larval ontogeny. Non‐lethal injuries were associated with differences in predator body size and behavior, with injured predators exhibiting smaller body sizes, increased use of benthic microhabitats, reduced agonistic displays, and increased risk of intraspecific aggression. While such effects were not ultimately associated with reduced foraging success, non‐lethal injury could contribute to niche partitioning between injured and healthy predators via habitat selection, but injured predators likely continue to exert predatory pressure on IG and basal prey populations. Our results indicate that studies of top‐down population regulation should incorporate injury‐related modifications to both prey and predator behavior and size structure.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Associations between Non‐Lethal Injury, Body Size, and Foraging Ecology in an Amphibian Intraguild Predator

Mott

Steffen

2013

Ethology

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“…Competition between conspecifics for habitat and forage resources can drive the frequency and severity of conspecific aggression (Slaney and Northcote, 1974;da Silva Nunes and Jaeger, 1989;Wildy et al, 2001), as can population size-class structure and ontogeny (Brunkow and Collins, 1998;Mott and Sparling, 2009). In addition to intraspecific influences, interspecific interactions, such as prédation or competition for common resources, can also play a role in the pattern of aggressive behaviour among conspecifics (Resetarits Jr., 1991;Beachy, 1994;Brodman, 1996Brodman, ,2004.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlates and consequences of injury in a large, predatory stream salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus)

et al. 2014

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Conspecific aggression is an important factor structuring population dynamics through intra-and interspecific interactions, but is rarely studied in un-manipulated populations. In this study, we evaluated rates of injury as a proxy for conspecific aggression using a depletion survey of predatory coastal giant salamanders (Dicamptodon tenebrosus) in a tributary of the South Fork Eel River, California. We tested a range of hypotheses including a suite of environmental and biotic factors for the rate of injury in a population by using an AIC model-selection approach that examined the weight of evidence for individual models. We examined both the probability of a given individual being injured, and the proportion of individuals within a given study pool being injured. We found strong support for models including salamander size, density of young-of-the-year steelhead, and density of the largest size-class of salamander as factors positively inñuencing the rate of injury at both the individual and habitat levels. We also found that density of older steelhead ( 1 -I-steelhead) had a strong, but highly variable positive impact on frequency of injury. This study shows that both conspecific and heterospecific factors infiuence intraspecific aggression for the dominant salamander throughout coastal Pacific Northwest streams. Our methodology demonstrates a non-manipulative approach to identifying correlates of natural injury in a cryptic species of amphibian. More work is needed to determine how these factors directly and indirectly influence the spatial distribution, individual fitness, and dynamics of salamander populations within streams.

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Seasonal trends in aggression among sympatric larval salamanders: the roles of habitat-mediation and behavioural conservatism

Mott¹,

Sparling²

2010

Behav

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Ontogenetic Patterns of Agonistic Behavior in a Guild of Larval Ambystomatid Salamanders

Cited by 7 publications

References 33 publications

Associations between Non‐Lethal Injury, Body Size, and Foraging Ecology in an Amphibian Intraguild Predator

Associations between Non‐Lethal Injury, Body Size, and Foraging Ecology in an Amphibian Intraguild Predator

Correlates and consequences of injury in a large, predatory stream salamander (Dicamptodon tenebrosus)

Seasonal trends in aggression among sympatric larval salamanders: the roles of habitat-mediation and behavioural conservatism

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