Experimental Evaluation of Territoriality and Associated Behaviors in the Spotted Dusky Salamander (Desmognathus conanti) Público
Dymit, Ellen (Spring 2019)
Abstract
Territoriality has been shown to meaningfully influence the distribution and population dynamics of several species of plethodontid salamander, but has never been formally evaluated in the spotted dusky salamander (Desmognathus conanti). I assessed the territorial defense, tenacity, and advertisement of male and female adult D. conanti individuals in two laboratory behavioral experiments, using 82 wild-caught individuals from two shaded first-order streams in the oak-pine-hickory woodland of Lullwater Preserve in Atlanta, Georgia. The first experiment involved substrate choice trials to assess the role of chemical signaling and chemosensation in the advertisement and perception of individual home areas. The second experiment involved behavioral aggression trials featuring resident-intruder pairs to assess site tenacity, territorial defense, and the determinants of aggressive and submissive behavior. I considered the effects of subject sex, weight, snout-vent length, tail length, residency status, and origin subpopulation, both individually and in relation to an associated conspecific, on behavioral manifestations of territoriality. In accordance with the criteria for salamander territoriality posited by Gergits (1981), D. conanti qualifies as a territorial species, with both males and females exhibiting behavior indicative of site fidelity, defense, and territorial advertisement via the deposition and perception of chemical signals. Overall, sex, residency status, and origin subpopulation were the most meaningful characteristics in determining the context and occurrence of territorial behavior. Although further studies of D. conanti in a natural setting are needed to understand how territorial interactions and behavior influence its wild distribution and populations, this study’s experimental evaluation of territoriality in an understudied semi-aquatic plethodontid species serves as a valuable foundation for conservation efforts and future investigations of stream salamander ecology.
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1
Methods……………………………………………………………………………..…………......5
Field Collections………………………………………………………………..................5
Husbandry……………………………………………………………................................7
Experiment 1: Choice Trials…………………………………………................................8
Experiment 2: Territorial Aggression…………………………………………................11
Results…………………………………………………………………………………………....16
Experiment 1: Substrate Choice………………………………………….........................16
Experiment 2: Confrontation………………………………………….............................19
Experiment 2: Aggressive Behavior…………………………………………..................22
Experiment 2: Submissive Behavior…………………………………………..................25
Discussion……………………………………..…………………………………………………29
Experiment One……………………………………………………………….................29
Experiment Two……………………………………………………………….................32
Study Limitations………………………………………………………………...............38
Conclusion……………………………………………………………….........................39
References…………………………………………………..……………………………………41
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