SREL Reprint #2044
Use of large field enclosures to study the terrestrial ecology of pond-breeding amphibians
Joseph H. K. Pechmann
Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, The University of Georgia, P.O. Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA
Department of Zoology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27706, USA
Abstract: The terrestrial stage of pond-breeding amphibians has been the subject of few ecological field experiments, partly because terrestrial individuals of many species are difficult to capture, observe, and manipulate. I tested a new strategy for sampling terrestrial, fossorial, pond-breeding amphibians within large field enclosures. Ambystoma opacum and A. talpoideum were placed in 225 m2 enclosures shortly after metamorphosis. Pitfall traps were placed along the enclosure walls to recapture individuals when they reached maturity and attempted to migrate to a breeding pond. Data were obtained on survival to, age at, and size at first reproduction comparable to data obtained from natural populations using terrestrial drift fences with pitfall traps located at breeding ponds. Doubling density in the enclosures by adding an equal number of either the same or the other species had no statistically significant effect on survival to first reproduction of A. opacum.
Keywords: Amphibian; Pond-breeding; Terrestrial; Enclosures; Sampling; Density; Competition; Ambystoma talpoideum; Ambystoma opacum
SREL Reprint #2044
Pechmann, J.H.K. 1995. Use of large field enclosures to study the terrestrial ecology of pond-breeding amphibians. Herpetologica 51:434-450.
This information was provided by the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (srel.uga.edu).