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Terrestrial Distribution of Salamanders around an Isolated Wetland

David Scott, Dean Croshaw, Karolina Stark, and Mark Komoroski

Project Summary: Terrestrial habitats surrounding isolated wetlands are a critical resource for many pond-breeding amphibian species, yet few studies have examined the terrestrial distribution of post-metamorphic juveniles and adults. We used an encircling drift fence at a breeding pond in conjunction with partial fences at 90, 172, and 332 m from the wetland to estimate the distribution of adult marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum; 3 years) and mole salamanders (A. talpoideum; 1 year), as well the habitat use of juvenile A. opacum (1 year). In general the form of the distribution of animals was one of exponential decay, and not a normal distribution as has been reported previously. For juvenile A. opacum, 80% of newly metamorphosed animals dispersed to Zone 1 (10-89 m from the wetland boundary), 10% to Zone 2 (90-171 m), 6% to Zone 3 (172-331 m), and 4% to Zone 4 (beyond 332 m). Distribution of adult A. opacum varied among years, but an average of 27% (range 21-32%) occurred in Zone 3 or beyond in all years. Forty percent of adult A. talpoideum occurred in Zone 1, with 15%, 25%, and 20% distributed in Zones 2-4, respectively. Knowledge of the shape of the terrestrial distribution function is important due the strong influence it has on the buffer zone area required to capture 50% or 95% of the population. Our results indicate that, compared to a normal distribution, a distribution that mimics a two-phase exponential decay model may require a smaller area to protect 50% of the populations of these two ambystomatid salamander species, but a larger area would be needed to protect 95%.

 

Project poster from 2006 SSAR/HL/ASIH meeting in New Oreleans (JPEG file, 11" x 17")

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