Survival and Breeding Frequency in Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum): Implications for Spatio-temporal Population Dynamics

Gamble, Lloyd R.; McGarigal, Kevin; Sigourney, Douglas B.; Timm, Brad C.

doi:10.1643/ch-07-241

Cited by 17 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…However, resident females often transition to the migrant state, and migrant females often skip one or more years of reproduction. Sex-based differences in breeding probability have been found in other studies of newts (Gill 1985) and ambystomatid salamanders (Church et al 2007, Gamble et al 2009), but the vast disparity between the sexes in our study is notable. These differences in breeding frequency suggest higher energetic costs of reproduction or a larger energetic investment required to initiate reproduction for females (Bull and Shine 1979).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

Life history benefits of residency in a partially migrating pond‐breeding amphibian

Grayson

Bailey

Wilbur

2011

Ecology

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Species with partial migration, where a portion of a population migrates and the other remains residential, provide the opportunity to evaluate conditions for migration and test mechanisms influencing migratory decisions. We conducted a five-year study of two populations of red-spotted newts (Notophthalmus viridescens), composed of individuals that either remain as residents in the breeding pond over the winter or migrate to the terrestrial habitat. We used multistate mark-recapture methods to (1) test for differences in survival probability between migrants and residents, (2) determine if migrants breed every year or skip opportunities for reproduction, and (3) estimate the frequency of individuals switching migratory tactic. We used estimates of life history parameters from the natural populations in combination with previous experimental work to evaluate processes maintaining partial migration at the population level and to assess mechanisms influencing the decision to migrate. Based on capture-recapture information on over 3000 individuals, we found that newts can switch migratory tactics over their lifetime. We conclude that migrants and residents coexist through conditional asymmetries, with residents having higher fitness and inferior individuals adopting the migrant tactic. We found that newts are more likely to switch from residency to migrating than the reverse and males were more likely to remain as residents. Migration differences between the sexes are likely driven by reproduction benefits of residency for males and high energetic costs of breeding resulting in lower breeding frequencies for females. Environmental conditions also influence partial migration within a population; we found support for density-dependent processes in the pond strongly influencing the probability of migrating. Our work illustrates how migration can be influenced by a complex range of individual and environmental factors and enhances our understanding of the conditions necessary for the evolution and maintenance of partial migration within populations.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 51%

Life history benefits of residency in a partially migrating pond‐breeding amphibian

Grayson

Bailey

Wilbur

2011

Ecology

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“…This trend may be due to the observed effects of larger body size on survival and the novelty of the terrestrial habitat to juveniles, which may make this life stage more susceptible to environmental exposure and predation (Shoop , Rohr and Madison , Rothermel and Luhring ). Like juveniles, adult ambystomatids also survive at relatively constant rates (Taylor et al , Gamble et al ). Differences in mean survivorship and variance values between life stages highlight the importance of estimating vital rates for unique life stages to address data gaps among the many complex life cycles found across invertebrate and vertebrate species (Werner ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimating Survival for Elusive Juvenile Pond‐Breeding Salamanders

2020

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Juvenile vital rates have important effects on population dynamics for many species, but this demographic is often difficult to locate and track. As such, we frequently lack reliable estimates of juvenile survival, which are necessary for accurately assessing population stability and potential management approaches to conserve biodiversity. We estimated survival rates for elusive juveniles of 3 species, the ringed salamander (Ambystoma annulatum), spotted salamander (A. maculatum), and small‐mouthed salamander (A. texanum), using 2 approaches. First, we conducted an 11‐month (2016–2017) mark‐recapture study within semi‐natural enclosures and used Bayesian Cormack‐Jolly‐Seber models to estimate survival and recapture probabilities. Second, we inferred the expected annual juvenile survival rate given published vital rates for pre‐metamorphic and adult ambystomatids assuming stable population growth. For all 3 species, juvenile survival probabilities were constant across recapture occasions, whereas recapture probability estimates were time‐dependent. Further, survival and recapture probabilities among study species were similar. Post‐study sampling revealed that the initial study period median estimate of annual survival probability (0.39) underestimated the number of salamanders known alive at 11 months. We therefore appended approximately 1 year of opportunistic data, which produced a median annual survival probability of 0.50, encompassing salamanders that we knew to have been alive. Calculation from literature values suggested a mean annual terrestrial juvenile ambystomatid survival probability of 0.49. Similar results among our approaches indicated that juvenile survival estimates for the study species were robust and likely comparable to rates in nature. These estimates can now be confidently applied to research, monitoring, and management efforts for the study species and ecologically similar taxa. Our findings indicated that similarly robust vital rate estimates for subsets of ecologically and phylogenetically similar species can provide reasonable surrogate demographic information that can be used to reveal key factors influencing population viability for data‐deficient species. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

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“…To our knowledge there Bishop 1941, Husting 1965, Whitford and Vinegar 1966, Minton 1972, Shoop 1974, Wilbur 1977, Woodward 1982, Ireland 1989, Flageole and Leclair 1992, Rothermel and Semlitsch 2006, Kinkead and Otis 2007E. Harper, unpublished data à McAtee 1907, Noble and Brady 1933, King 1939, Green 1955, Petranka and Petranka 1980, Scott 1990, Palis 1996, Semlitsch et al 1996, Paton and Crouch 2002, Rothermel and Semlitsch 2006, Taylor et al 2006, McGarigal et al 2008, Gamble et al 2009§ Shoop 1960, Semlitsch 1987, Semlitsch et al 1988, 1996, Raymond and Hardy 1990, Pechmann 1995} Bellis 1961, Herreid and Kinney 1966, Meeks and Nagel 1973, Berven 1982, 1988, Corn and Livo 1989, Riha and Berven 1991, Bastien and LeClair 1992, Sagor et al 1998, Redmer 2002 # These mean values for survival from egg to metamorphosis include only non-zero values. In the simulations the frequency of years without successful recruitment was determined by the hydroperiod of individual pools.…”

Section: Population Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Impact of forestry practices at a landscape scale on the dynamics of amphibian populations

Harper

Patrick

Gibbs

2015

Ecological Applications

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Forest loss is a primary cause of worldwide amphibian decline. Timber harvesting in the United States has caused dramatic changes in quality and extent of forest ecosystems, and intensive forest management still occurs. Although numerous studies have documented substantial reductions in amphibian densities related to timber harvest, subsequent extinctions are rare. To better understand the population dynamics that have allowed so many amphibian species to persist in the face of widespread forest disturbance, we developed spatially explicit metapopulation models for four forest-dependent amphibian species (Lithobates sylvaticus, Ambystoma opacum, A. talpoideum, and A. maculatum) that incorporated demographic and habitat selection data derived from experiments conducted as part of the Land Use Effects on Amphibian Populations Project (LEAP). We projected local and landscape-scale population persistence under 108 different forestry practice scenarios, varying treatment (partial cut, clear-cut with coarse woody debris [CWD] removed, and clearcut with CWD retained), cut patch size (1, 10, or 50 ha), total area cut (10, 20, or 30%), and initial amphibian population size (5, 50, or 500 adult females per local breeding population). Under these scenarios, landscape-scale extinction was highly unlikely, occurring in < 1% of model runs and for only 2 of the 4 species, because landscape-scale populations were able to persist via dispersal even despite frequent local extinctions. Yet for all species, population sizes were reduced to -50% in all clear-cut scenarios, regardless of the size of harvested patches. These findings suggest that debate over timber harvesting on pool-breeding amphibian populations in the United States should focus not on questions of landscape-scale extinction but on the ecological consequences of dramatic reductions in amphibian biomass, including changes in trophic interactions, nutrient cycling, and energy transfer. Additionally, we conclude that amphibian declines and extinctions are far more likely to occur as a result of permanent habitat loss resulting from development than from the temporary degradation of habitat caused by current forestry practices.

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Survival and Breeding Frequency in Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum): Implications for Spatio-temporal Population Dynamics

Cited by 17 publications

References 44 publications

Life history benefits of residency in a partially migrating pond‐breeding amphibian

Life history benefits of residency in a partially migrating pond‐breeding amphibian

Estimating Survival for Elusive Juvenile Pond‐Breeding Salamanders

Impact of forestry practices at a landscape scale on the dynamics of amphibian populations

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