A test of scent-trailing as a contributing factor in the climbing behaviour of the redback salamander (Plethodon cinereus)

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-116
Author(s):  
Griffin Cote ◽  
Sarah Getty ◽  
Amanda Vokoun ◽  
Seth Carmichael ◽  
Hallee Hunt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Plethodon Cinereus ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
The Family ◽  
Climbing Behaviour ◽  
Wooden Dowel ◽  
Scent Trails ◽  
Control Rods

Terrestrial salamanders of the family Plethodontidae are common predators of invertebrates in deciduous forest communities of eastern North America. While normally residing and foraging in forest-floor microhabitats, many species facultatively climb vegetation. Different hypotheses have been proffered to explain this behaviour including optimal-foraging strategies and predator avoidance. Using laboratory-based trials, we tested the hypothesis that the terrestrial salamander Plethodon cinereus climbs in response to scent trails left by insect prey. We found that salamanders climbed significantly higher and spent significantly more time climbing on wooden dowel rods that had been treated with prey residue than they did on control rods. Scent trailing possibly interacts with other factors such as optimal-foraging opportunities and predation risk in influencing climbing behaviour in these salamanders.

scholarly journals Be different to be better: the effect of personality on optimal foraging with incomplete knowledge

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Poppy M. Jeffries ◽  
Samantha C. Patrick ◽  
Jonathan R. Potts
Keyword(s):  
Optimal Foraging ◽  
Optimal Foraging Theory ◽  
Foraging Strategy ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Partial Knowledge ◽  
Marginal Value ◽  
Animal Populations ◽  
Plausible Mechanism ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Modelling Approach

AbstractMany animal populations include a diversity of personalities, and these personalities are often linked to foraging strategy. However, it is not always clear why populations should evolve to have this diversity. Indeed, optimal foraging theory typically seeks out a single optimal strategy for individuals in a population. So why do we, in fact, see a variety of strategies existing in a single population? Here, we aim to provide insight into this conundrum by modelling the particular case of foraging seabirds, that forage on patchy prey. These seabirds have only partial knowledge of their environment: they do not know exactly where the next patch will emerge, but they may have some understanding of which locations are more likely to lead to patch emergence than others. Many existing optimal foraging studies assume either complete knowledge (e.g. Marginal Value Theorem) or no knowledge (e.g. Lévy Flight Hypothesis), but here we construct a new modelling approach which incorporates partial knowledge. In our model, different foraging strategies are favoured by different birds along the bold-shy personality continuum, so we can assess the optimality of a personality type. We show that it is optimal to be shy (resp. bold) when living in a population of bold (resp. shy) birds. This observation gives a plausible mechanism behind the emergence of diverse personalities. We also show that environmental degradation is likely to favour shyer birds and cause a decrease in diversity of personality over time.

A classification of the deciduous forest of eastern North America

Vegetatio ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carl D. Monk ◽  
Donald W. Imm ◽  
Robert L. Potter ◽  
Geoffrey G. Parker
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Eastern North America

Glugea weissenbergi. [Descriptions of Fungi and Bacteria].

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Minter
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
The Family

Abstract This article describes the morphology, morphometrics, and geographical distribution of the parasite Glugea weissenbergi infecting largely freshwater fish of the family Gasterosteidae (sticklebacks) in temperate eastern North America. This parasite is only endemic in Maryland, USA.

scholarly journals Comparison of a Population of Eastern Red-backed Salamanders, Plethodon cinereus, under Native Dominant Wood Coverboards and Natural Cover Objects

2009 ◽  
Vol 123 (3) ◽  
pp. 210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-David Moore
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Age Structure ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Good Method ◽  
Plethodon Cinereus ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
Population Demographics ◽  
Significant Difference

Artificial cover objects or coverboards have been widely used to study Eastern Red-backed Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus), a species that is very abundant in eastern North America and known to be one of the most common vertebrates within its geographical range. However, recent studies have suggested that potential bias may be associated with the use of coverboards compared with natural cover objects. In this study, age structure and body size (weight and snout-vent length, SVL) of P. cinereus found under coverboards and natural cover objects at Lake Clair (Quebec, Canada) were compared. Coverboards were made of Sugar Maple (Acer sacchrum), a native forest species dominant in the study area. In 2004 and 2005, a total of 162 P. cinereus were found under coverboards, and 156 P. cinereus were found under natural cover objects. No significant difference in the age structure, mean weight, or SVL of P. cinereus was observed between the two sets. This study suggests that the type of coverboard used at Lake Clair is a good method to obtain an accurate index of P. cinereus population demographics, and is similar to that expected under natural cover objects. This technique should help to establish a standard protocol that could better allow direct comparisons among studies in the future. However, more studies are needed to explain the high proportion of adult specimens found under both cover types at Lake Clair relative to studies in other regions in North America.

Ptiliidae of the Maritime Provinces of Canada (Coleoptera): new records and bionomic notes

Zootaxa ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 1423 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHRISTOPHER G. MAJKA ◽  
MIKAEL SÖRENSSON
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
New Records ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Maritime Provinces ◽  
The Family ◽  
Saproxylic Species ◽  
Undisturbed Forest ◽  
First Time ◽  
Forest Conditions

The Ptiliidae of the Maritime Provinces of Canada is surveyed. Twenty-nine new provincial records from the Maritime Provinces of Canada are reported including the first records of the family from Prince Edward Island. Fourteen species are recorded for the first time for the Maritime Provinces as a whole. Acrotrichis josephi (Matthews) is recorded for the first time in eastern North America and Acrotrichis haldemani (LeConte) is recorded for the first time in Canada. The genus Pteryx is reported for the first time in Canada. At least 29 species of Ptiliidae are now known to occur in the region. The fauna is briefly discussed in terms of its overall composition, introduced species, and species associated with particular habitats. Saproxylic species found in mature forests are discussed and attention is drawn to their possible relationship to undisturbed forest conditions and the scarcity of old-growth habitats in the region.

scholarly journals Community structure of Coleoptera in Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary, West Bengal, India

Check List ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 2154
Author(s):  
Paramita Basu ◽  
Gautam Aditya ◽  
A. K. Sanyal
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Relative Abundance ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Tropical Deciduous Forest ◽  
Species Assemblage ◽  
Wildlife Sanctuary ◽  
The Family

We focused on the coleopteran species assemblage in a tropical deciduous forest in the Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary, West Bengal, India. During a 2-year survey, we collected 56 species belonging to 13 families of Coleoptera, in varying relative abundance. Among the species, 15 belong to the family Chrysomelidae, nine to the Staphyllinidae, and four to the Coccinellidae. Our results substantiate the importance of the Bethuadahari Wildlife Sanctuary for the conservation of coleopteran insects.

scholarly journals A late-surviving apatemyid (Mammalia: Apatotheria) from the latest Oligocene of Florida, USA

PeerJ ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. e1509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas J. Czaplewski ◽  
Gary S. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
Alachua County ◽  
The Family ◽  
Distal Edge ◽  
A New Species

A new species of Apatemyidae,Sinclairella simplicidens, is based on four isolated teeth that were screenwashed from fissure fillings at the late Oligocene Buda locality, Alachua County, Florida. Compared to its only congenerSinclairella dakotensis, the new species is characterized by upper molars with more simplified crowns, with the near absence of labial shelves and stylar cusps except for a strong parastyle on M1, loss of paracrista and paraconule on M2 (paraconule retained but weak on M1), lack of anterior cingulum on M1–M3, straighter centrocristae, smaller hypocone on M1 and M2, larger hypocone on M3, distal edge of M2 continuous from hypocone to postmetacrista supporting a large posterior basin, and with different tooth proportions in which M2 is the smallest rather than the largest molar in the toothrow. The relatively rare and poorly-known family Apatemyidae has a long temporal range in North America from the late Paleocene (early Tiffanian) to early Oligocene (early Arikareean). The new species from Florida significantly extends this temporal range by roughly 5 Ma to the end of the Paleogene near the Oligocene-Miocene boundary (from early Arikareean, Ar1, to late Arikareean, Ar3), and greatly extends the geographic range of the family into eastern North America some 10° of latitude farther south and 20° of longitude farther east (about 2,200 km farther southeast) than previously known. This late occurrence probably represents a retreat of this subtropically adapted family into the Gulf Coastal Plain subtropical province at the end of the Paleogene and perhaps the end of the apatemyid lineage in North America.

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