Tiger salamanders in prairie potholes: A “Fish in amphibian’s garments?”

Wetlands ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 464-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn A. Benoy
Keyword(s):  
Prairie Potholes ◽  
Tiger Salamanders

Variation in tiger salamander density within prairie potholes affects aquatic bird foraging behaviour

2005 ◽  
Vol 83 (7) ◽  
pp. 926-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn A Benoy
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Invertebrates ◽  
Foraging Behaviour ◽  
Prairie Potholes ◽  
Tiger Salamander ◽  
Aquatic Bird ◽  
Dabbling Ducks ◽  
Diving Ducks ◽  
Tiger Salamanders ◽  
Prey Resources ◽  
American Coot

Through competitive asymmetry, coexisting fish populations can alter aquatic bird distributions and reduce the reproductive success of their offspring. Gray tiger salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium diaboli Dunn, 1940) may function similarly in fishless prairie potholes. To test the hypothesis that tiger salamanders compete with aquatic birds (including ducks, grebes, and American Coot (Fulica americana J.F. Gmelin, 1789)) for prey resources during the breeding season, 16 potholes were divided into halves by an impermeable plastic barrier and tiger salamander densities were increased or decreased on opposite sides of the barrier. From late May until early July, aquatic invertebrates were sampled from both sides of the divider and the foraging activities of birds were observed. Invertebrate samples revealed that densities of most macroinvertebrate taxa were lower in the halves of potholes with relatively higher densities of tiger salamanders. On average, bird occupancy was evenly distributed on either side of the divider. In contrast, birds spent 65% more time foraging where tiger salamander densities were low (71.2% of total time observed) than where they were high (46.2% of total time observed). The birds most responsive to differences in tiger salamander density and food availability were dabbling ducks, followed by American Coot and diving ducks. This ranking corresponds to the degree of dietary overlap documented between tiger salamanders and aquatic bird assemblages in the study area.

Microsatellite analyses across three diverse vertebrate transcriptomes (Acipenser fulvescens, Ambystoma tigrinum, and Dipodomys spectabilis)

Genome ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 56 (7) ◽  
pp. 407-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline M. Doyle ◽  
Gregor Siegmund ◽  
Joseph D. Ruhl ◽  
Soo Hyung Eo ◽  
Matthew C. Hale ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Sturgeon ◽  
Untranslated Regions ◽  
Ambystoma Tigrinum ◽  
Acipenser Fulvescens ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Noncoding Dna ◽  
Kangaroo Rats ◽  
Tiger Salamanders ◽  
Dipodomys Spectabilis ◽  
In Silico Polymorphism

Historically, many population genetics studies have utilized microsatellite markers sampled at random from the genome and presumed to be selectively neutral. Recent studies, however, have shown that microsatellites can occur in transcribed regions, where they are more likely to be under selection. In this study, we mined microsatellites from transcriptomes generated by 454-pyrosequencing for three vertebrate species: lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens), tiger salamander (Ambystoma tigrinum), and kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis). We evaluated (i) the occurrence of microsatellites across species; (ii) whether particular gene ontology terms were over-represented in genes that contained microsatellites; (iii) whether repeat motifs were located in untranslated regions or coding sequences of genes; and (iv) in silico polymorphism. Microsatellites were less common in tiger salamanders than in either lake sturgeon or kangaroo rats. Across libraries, trinucleotides were found more frequently than any other motif type, presumably because they do not cause frameshift mutations. By evaluating variation across reads assembled to a given contig, we were able to identify repeat motifs likely to be polymorphic. Our study represents one of the first comparative data sets on the distribution of vertebrate microsatellites within expressed genes. Our results reinforce the idea that microsatellites do not always occur in noncoding DNA, but commonly occur in expressed genes.

Single-host pathogen effects on mortality and behavioral responses to predators in salamanders (Urodela: Ambystomatidae)

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (9) ◽  
pp. 1477-1483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J Parris ◽  
Alison Davis ◽  
James P Collins
Keyword(s):  
Activity Level ◽  
Ambystoma Tigrinum ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Host Behavior ◽  
Anax Junius ◽  
Tiger Salamanders ◽  
Thermal Maximum ◽  
Antipredator Responses ◽  
Host Pathogen ◽  
Single Host

Pathogens can alter host behavior and affect the outcome of predator-prey interactions. Acute phase responses of hosts (e.g., a change in activity level or behavioral fever) often signal an infection, but the ecological consequences of host behavioral changes largely are unexplored, particularly for directly transmitted (i.e., single-host) pathogens. We performed three experiments to test the hypothesis that a pathogen, Ambystoma tigrinum virus (ATV), alters host behavior of Sonoran tiger salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum stebbinsi Lowe, 1954) and enhances predation. In the first experiment, salamander larvae exposed to ATV experienced 48% lower mortality from dragonfly Anax junius (Drury, 1773) larvae than those in controls. Second, uninfected and infected larvae exposed to the nonlethal (caged) presence of predators did not significantly differ in their distance from the predator. Infected salamanders significantly increased their activity level relative to those in controls in predator-free conditions. Finally, ATV-infected larvae preferred significantly warmer temperatures than uninfected larvae, but larvae reared at the thermal maximum for the virus all died. High host activity level yet retention of effective antipredator responses likely benefits ATV because this single-host pathogen relies on host survival for transmission. Preference for warmer temperatures may be associated with the host response to pathogens and may help fight infection.

scholarly journals Classifying the Hydrologic Function of Prairie Potholes with Remote Sensing and GIS

Wetlands ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Rover ◽  
Chris K. Wright ◽  
Ned H. Euliss ◽  
David M. Mushet ◽  
Bruce K. Wylie
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Remote Sensing And Gis ◽  
Prairie Potholes

Pathogenicity and Transmission of Chytridiomycosis in Tiger Salamanders (Ambystoma tigrinum)

Copeia ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (3) ◽  
pp. 601-607 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth W. Davidson ◽  
Matthew Parris ◽  
James P. Collins ◽  
Joyce E. Longcore ◽  
Allan P. Pessier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ambystoma Tigrinum ◽  
Tiger Salamanders
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