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Thermal Sensitivity of Aggression in Two Terrestrial Salamanders, Plethodon cylindraceus and P. montanus
Author(s) -
Clay Timothy A.,
Gifford Matthew E.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ethology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.739
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1439-0310
pISSN - 0179-1613
DOI - 10.1111/eth.12453
Subject(s) - sympatry , ecology , abiotic component , interspecific competition , biology , salamander , biotic component , habitat
Understanding the abiotic and biotic mechanisms regulating species distributions is an important area of study for ecologists. Increasingly, studies have begun to focus on the influence of abiotic conditions on biotic interactions. Numerous examples of interspecific aggression exist within the terrestrial salamander genus Plethodon and many occur between montane endemics and lowland conspecifics. Here, we explore how variation in temperature might influence aggressive interactions between two Plethodon species that have relatively broad elevational overlap, P. cylindraceus and P. montanus . We found that both species increased aggressive acts with increasing temperatures. We also found that the pattern of variation in aggression across test temperatures differed between species. Interestingly, we found that the lowland congener, P. cylindraceus, was more aggressive than the montane endemic, P. montanus , a pattern opposite of previous observations within Plethodon . The large range of sympatry observed between these species may be a result of a reverse of what is expected based on previous research with congeners in similar systems and not the result of temperature‐specific outcomes.