Title: Population Ecology of a Highly Productive Aquatic Salamander (Siren intermedia)
Abstract: Siren intermedia nettingi Goin is unique among salamanders in combining high density (0.9-1.3 sirens/m2) through high net productivity (29g/ m2/ year) with large size (2 42 g) to attain a standing crop biomass of 38-57 g/ m2. Characteristics that contribute to the high productivity include great fecundity (151-226 eggs/female/year) and rapid growth (0.42%//day) to sexual maturity in one year. The standing crop of S. intermedia alone may be 1.1-1.3 times that pre- dicted for all seven species of insectivorous fishes in the same beaver pond commun- ity in Texas. Siren intermedia is unusual among vertebrates in being both an early colonizer and dominant species in at least two different successional stages of a single community. Salamanders can dominate aquatic ecosystems because of the high standing crop biomass of several syntopic species (Burton and Likens 1975). Although dominance by a single species has not been reported, we have evidence for such in the lesser siren (Siren intermedia net- tingi Goin). The senior author removed 283 individuals, or about 3 g/m2/year, from a beaver pond in Texas over a 4-year period, yet trap- ping continued to yield specimens at nearly the original rate of capture. To determine if the apparently high productivity leads to dominance in these sirens, we attempted to assay a variety of ecological features that could be studied with mark-recapture techniques. This is the first field study of any sirenid salamander. STUDY AREA. In 1968-69, beavers (Castor canadensis) constructed a series of ponds on an unnamed, first-order tributary of the Trinity River, 6.5 km NW Montalba, Anderson Co., Texas. Our 1082 m2 study site was the uppermost of these ponds. Except for a 1.2 m deep, 1-2 m wide, stream channel in the middle, the study pond was 15-60 cm deep. During population censuses of the sirens in October and November (fall), water temperatures at trap depth (15 cm) were 7-250C. In the 1 Dedicated to the memory of the late James D. Anderson, leader among students
Publication Year: 1978
Publication Date: 1978-08-10
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 28
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