Download or read book Timber Harvest Effects on Metamorphosed and Larval Long toed Salamanders Ambystoma Macrodactylum written by Rex L. McGraw and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Effects of Surrounding Canopy Cover and Other Characteristics of Wetlands on Presence and Growth of Larval Long toed Salamanders Ambystoma Macrodactylum written by Wynter Buck and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Distribution and Habitat Associations of the Long toed Salamander Ambystoma Macrodactylum in the Oldman River Drainage written by Kim Pearson and published by Alberta Public Affairs Bureau. This book was released on 2003-01-01 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Herpetology in Montana written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Protocol for Monitoring Long toed Salamander Ambystoma Macrodactylum Populations in Alberta written by Troy Pretzlaw and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Food Level Effects on Metamorphic Timing in the Long toed Salamander Ambystoma Macrodactylum Krausei written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Population Survey of the Long toed Salamander Ambystoma Macrodactylum in West central and Northwestern Alberta written by and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Effects of Hydroperiod on the Head Morphology of Long toed Salamanders Ambystoma Macrodactylum written by Kathryn L. Menninger and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Predator prey Interactions Between Introduced Trout and Long toed Salamanders and Ways to Mitigate Nonconsumptive Effects written by Erin Kennedy Kenison and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Predators can increase prey through mortality, but also have the capacity to alter behavior, morphology, and life history through nonconsumptive effects. In many historically fishless lakes in western North America, trout have been introduced for recreational fishing and are associated with reducing and extirpating populations of amphibians, including long-toed salamanders (Ambystoma macrodactylum). Salamanders and trout may coexist in some lakes, as larvae are able to alter foraging behavior by avoiding open water, foraging at night in shallow water, and hiding in cover to avoid predation. However, salamanders may experience nonconsumptive effects due to these behavioral changes. We sought to estimate the nonconsumptive effects of trout on morphology and life history of larval salamanders. We caught salamander larvae using minnow traps in northwestern Montana during the summers of 2012 and 2013 and compared body morphology measurements and size at and timing of metamorphosis between lakes with and without trout. Salamanders in lakes with trout were smaller: they weighed less, had shorter body lengths, and had shorter and narrower tails. Salamanders in lakes with trout were also less likely to metamorphose, did so later in the summer, and had smaller total and tail lengths at metamorphosis. These changes in morphology and life history likely were a result of reduced foraging to avoid predator attacks. We conducted a field experiment in 2013 to investigate whether adding vegetation structure could reduce nonconsumptive effects of trout on salamander larvae by providing refugia and reducing perceived risk of predation. We constructed field enclosures in lakes with and without trout and quantified changes in salamander growth and differences in size at metamorphosis with and without added structure. Salamanders appeared to detect trout cues because they grew more slowly in lakes with trout, even though trout had no ability to consume salamanders. Added vegetation structure did not influence growth rates, but did increase the probability of salamanders that reached metamorphosis. Future research efforts should investigate whether adding vegetation structure to whole lakes can mitigate the nonconsumptive effects of trout, provide a feasible alternative to fish removal, and facilitate coexistence between salamanders and trout.

Download or read book Short term Relationship of Timber Management and Pacific Giant Salamander Populations and the Response of Larval Stream Amphibian to Predators Under Differing Sediment Levels written by Niels C. Leuthold and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Pacific Northwest, multiple studies have found negative effects of timber harvest on stream amphibians, but the results have been highly variable and region-specific. In this collection of studies, I examined the short term effect of timber harvest using a field study, and used lab work to examine a potential mechanism for timber harvest effect. Over the last 30 years forest management practices have changed substantially, yet little work examines how modern forest management relates to the abundance or density of stream amphibians. I examined the influences of contemporary forest practices on Pacific giant salamanders as part of the Hinkle Creek paired watershed study. I used a mark-recapture analysis to estimate Pacific giant salamander density at 100 1-m segments spread throughout the basin and then used extended linear models that accounted for correlation resulting from the repeated surveys at sites across years. Density was positively associated with substrate, negatively associate with upstream area drained, and had a weak positive association with fish density, but I found no evidence of an effect of harvest. A Monte Carlo analysis suggested that our results were not sensitive to missing captures at sites with no captures. Pacific Northwest stream amphibians are often negatively associated with sedimentation, but the mechanism underlying this relationship is not clear. One hypothesized mechanism is that the reduced interstitial space that results from sedimentation increases susceptibility of amphibians to predation. I used laboratory mesocosms to test this hypothesis and examine the response of larval Pacific giant salamanders and tailed frogs to cutthroat trout and adult Pacific giant salamander presence under three different levels of sediment. I found amphibian larvae were more visible as sediment level increased and some evidence that larvae were less visible in the presence of fish. Movement decreased in the presence of cutthroat trout, though for tailed frog larvae this effect was marginally significant (p = 0.066). Larvae did not respond to presence of adult Pacific giant salamanders. These patterns are consistent with the hypothesis that sediment affects larval stream amphibians by increasing vulnerability to predation. While both species of larvae actively sought cover in response to fish, I found little evidence that this behavior mitigates the effects of increasing sediment.

Download or read book The Effects of Introduced Fish on the Long toed Salamander Ambystoma Macrodactylum in Southwestern Alberta Canada written by Kimberly J. Pearson and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Santa Cruz Long toed Salamander Recovery Plan written by and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Amphibian Declines written by Michael Lannoo and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2005-06-15 with total page 1117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This benchmark volume documents in comprehensive detail a major environmental crisis: rapidly declining amphibian populations and the disturbing developmental problems that are increasingly prevalent within many amphibian species. Horror stories on this topic have been featured in the scientific and popular press over the past fifteen years, invariably asking what amphibian declines are telling us about the state of the environment. Are declines harbingers of devastated ecosystems or simply weird reflections of a peculiar amphibian world? This compendium—presenting new data, reviews of current literature, and comprehensive species accounts—reinforces what scientists have begun to suspect, that amphibians are a lens through which the state of the environment can be viewed more clearly. And, that the view is alarming and presages serious concerns for all life, including that of our own species. The first part of this work consists of more than fifty essays covering topics from the causes of declines to conservation, surveys and monitoring, and education. The second part consists of species accounts describing the life history and natural history of every known amphibian species in the United States.

Download or read book Individual Population and Landscape scale Effects of Timber Harvest on the Red legged Salamander Plethodon Shermani written by Grant McClintock Connette and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Habitat loss and alteration are widely recognized as major threats to global biodiversity and the vulnerability of animal species to these disturbance processes can depend on the behavioral responses of individuals to modified landscapes. In response to a changing environment, individuals may either attempt to adapt to changing conditions or disperse to new habitat. At the local scale, the emigration of individuals or changes in activity patterns could lead to reduced counts of animals in ecological studies. At broader spatial scales, organismal movement may enable population rescue or reestablishment after disturbance and maintain demographic connectivity among populations. These complex mechanisms underlying the perceived abundance and distribution of species often requires a careful deconstructing of demographic trends and sampling variation in ecological data. Lungless salamanders (Family Plethodontidae) are extremely abundant in many forest and headwater stream ecosystems of eastern North America. These salamanders breathe across their moist skin surface, making them sensitive to fluctuations in temperature and moisture conditions. Thus, changes in habitat characteristics are known to have a considerable effect on populations of these salamanders. However, studies identifying the behavioral or demographic causes of declines as well as patterns of long-term recovery are critically needed. My dissertation research combined behavioral, population and landscape-scale studies to identify the effects of timber harvest on a lungless woodland salamander (Plethodon shermani). The primary objectives of my research were to 1) to describe the short-and long-term effects of timber harvest on salamander abundance and 2) to determine the behavioral or demographic processes dictating the abundance and distribution of salamanders at both local and landscape scales. To characterize baseline population dynamics of the salamander, P. shermani, I conducted a 5-year capture-mark-recapture study which revealed substantial annual variation in survival, recruitment, and population size under natural conditions. Initial results suggest that differences in recruitment and over-winter survival might be responsible for the lower abundances of terrestrial salamanders in logged areas at the end of this study. In an experimental translocation of salamanders into a timber cut and nearby forest habitat, I found that salamanders respond to differences in habitat quality by altering their movement behavior. This type of behavioral shift might help mitigate the risk of sustaining activity in recently logged forest. In an additional study, I tracked salamanders using a PIT-tag telemetry system in order to identify mortality, rather than emigration or reduced activity, as the likely cause for perceived declines in salamanders immediately following timber harvest. Finally, in a series of landscape-scale surveys, I found that salamander abundance was positively correlated with forest age (i.e., years since harvest), that full population recovery can require greater than 100 years, and that populations of species with greater movement ability may recover faster due to immigration of individuals from surrounding forest. Collectively, these studies identify key behavioral and demographic processes responsible for observed changes in salamander populations and suggest specific strategies for conservation and management.

Download or read book Chemically mediated Prey Responses written by Renae K. Reed and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The purpose of this research was to assess the predator-induced responses of a larval amphibian to its natural predators and to an unfamiliar fish. Amphibians express chemically-mediated antipredator defenses in behavior, morphology and life history, and are currently threatened with predation by invasive fish. To investigate this issue, we first initiated a behavioral assay to test the null hypotheses that predator type and diet have no effect on long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) behavior. We exposed individual replicate A. macrodactylum to chemical cues (kairomones) from garter snakes (Thamnophis elegans), tiger salamanders (A. tigrinum) and brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans), which had been fed a larvae-diet of A. macrodactylum or a null-diet of earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris), and measured subsequent changes in A. macrodactylum behavior. A. macrodactylum decreased activity in response to their native predators, and to a greater degree if the predators were fed A. macrodactylum. Larvae increased activity in response to null-diet fish, but decreased activity in response to larvae-diet fish, indicating the use of a diet cue to identify a potential threat. We then conducted a conditioning experiment to test the null hypothesis that repeated exposure to C. inconstans kairomones with larvae-diet cues would not affect A. macrodactylum behavior when later exposed to the predator kairomones alone. A. macrodactylum were repeatedly exposed to kairomones from larvae-diet C. inconstans and later tested for a response to null-diet C. inconstans. Conditioned A. macrodactylum decreased their activity in response to fish kairomones alone, indicating they were able to learn adaptively through the use of the diet cue. We believe this is the first example of diet-dependent learning in an amphibian-fish model. During the conditioning experiment, we also measured for change in morphology, growth and development towards metamorphosis, an important life history event, as indicators of other predator-induced plastic responses. While we did not detect a significant difference in morphology or growth, conditioned A. macrodactylum reached the final stage of metamorphosis at an accelerated rate. We suggest A. macrodactylum is able to use a diet cue for predator labelling and learning, and to make potentially beneficial adjustments to its life history"--Leaf iv.

Download or read book Distribution of the Long Toed Salamander Ambystoma Macrodactylum in Northwestern Alberta written by Ken D. Wright and published by Alberta Conservation Association. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 18 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Movement and Habitat Use of the Long toed Salamander Ambystoma Macrodactylum in Waterton Lakes National Park Alberta written by Matthew R. Atkinson-Adams and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Population estimates for adult long-toed salamander (Ambystoma macrodactylum) at Linnet Lake in Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta, showed a 60% decline from 1994 and 2008 -2009. To prevent further decline, in 2008 Parks Canada installed four under-road crossing structures (tunnels) and directional fencing along the road bordering Linnet Lake to reduce road mortality, which was known to be high. Parks later learned that predacious fish had colonized the lake, likely during natural flooding. In 2010 and 2011, Parks removed and relocated 35000 fish from Linnet Lake over 11 days of trapping. Measures intended to restore wildlife populations to historic levels often go unmonitored, and success or failure is not systematically assessed. Long-toed salamanders are small and delicate, and are difficult to monitor when they inhabit the terrestrial environment during the 10 - 11 month non-breeding season. To determine the status of the Linnet Lake long-toed salamander population and investigate terrestrial movement patterns (orientation) and habitat-use, I conducted research in 2013 and 2014 at Linnet Lake and a nearby reference site (Stable Pond, 1.2 km away). I conducted a mark-recapture study at Linnet Lake by marking salamanders with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags, and I used radio frequency identification (RFID) antennas and cameras in tunnels to monitor use by tagged individuals and compare the two methods. I also used PIT tags to mark salamanders at Stable Pond and, using a home-made portable RFID antenna (scanner), I conducted "PIT telemetry" to locate tagged animals in the terrestrial environment at both sites and tested the scanners read range. At Linnet Lake, I found no increase in adult salamander population size from estimates made during the 2008 -2009 study and I found little evidence of recruitment when I compared demographic data to Stable Pond. Population estimates of 1380 (95% CI: 1138, 1702) in 2013 and 706 (95% CI: 575, 893) in 2014 indicate a declining population at Linnet Lake and raise concern regarding the viability of the population and urgency for conservation efforts. RFID antennas were 6.5 times more likely than cameras to detect a tagged salamander entering or exiting tunnels. Salamander orientation was non-uniform at both study sites, with movement patterns staying consistent between years at Linnet Lake and differing between age classes and as salamanders moved further from the shore at Stable Pond. Using PIT telemetry, I relocated 32 individuals in the terrestrial habitats around Linnet Lake and 80 at Stable Pond. I was able to locate and characterize nine overwintering sites and each was associated with decomposing tree roots. Tests of the portable RFID antenna's read range in three substrates (soil, rock, water) at multiple depths showed the highest read range in water, and a non-linear effect of depth on horizontal read range. This study provides important data for monitoring the long-term effects of mitigation efforts at Linnet Lake, and demonstrates the utility of RFID and PIT tags for tracking small terrestrial vertebrates and monitoring the use of road-crossing structures.