Dean A. Croshaw 1, 2 and David E. Scott1
Abstract
Nest site selection is an important part of adult reproductive behavior
because growth and survival of young are often affected by the local environment.
In terrestrially nesting marbled salamanders, nest elevation is likely
important to reproductive success because it is directly related to the
time of hatching. We tested the hypothesis that females choose nest sites
based on elevation and its correlates by controlling the availability
of nesting cover, a potentially important factor in nest site selection
which often covaries with elevation. Breeding adults were confined to
field enclosures in which natural nesting cover had been removed and replaced
with equal proportions of artificial cover in each of three elevation
zones. In four enclosures that spanned from lowest to highest areas of
a wetland breeding site, females used artificial nesting cover most frequently
at low elevations. These results contrast with other studies in which
intermediate elevations had highest nest densities, but are consistent
with a conceptual model in which opposing selective forces result in locally
adapted nest site selection.
1 - Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, South Carolina 29802, USA
2 - Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma 73019, USA
Corresponding
author; email: croshaw@srel.edu
SREL
Reprint #2987
Croshaw, D. A. and D. E. Scott. 2006. Marbled salamanders (Ambystoma opacum) choose low elevation nest sites when cover availability is controlled. Amphibia-Reptilia 27(3):359-364.
