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- Title
RESOURCE LEVEL AND REPRODUCTIVE FREQUENCY IN FEMALE FOUR-TOED SALAMANDERS, HEMIDACTYLIUM SCUTATUM.
- Authors
Harris, Reid N.; Ludwig, Patrice M.
- Abstract
Many species of vertebrate animals skip reproduction in some years. We studied the pattern of reproduction exhibited by female four-toed salamanders (Hemidactylium scutatum). Data from a 10-year field study showed that females reproduced in sequential years with a frequency of 0.56 but skipped one or more years of reproduction with a frequency of 0.44. This pattern was not correlated with whether a female attended or deserted her nest. When females skipped reproduction, they had higher growth, which can translate into higher fecundity. We experimentally examined whether female four-toed salamanders reproduced in sequential years if they had adequate resources after nesting and before the onset of winter. A manipulation of food level after the nesting period revealed that females fed a high food ration were twice as likely to return the next year to oviposit as females fed a lower food level. This study is the first to document experimentally that reproductive frequency varies with resource level in a vertebrate species.
- Subjects
ANIMAL sexual behavior; SALAMANDERS; FOUR-toed salamander; HEMIDACTYLIUM; VERTEBRATES; FERTILITY; GENDER
- Publication
Ecology, 2004, Vol 85, Issue 6, p1585
- ISSN
0012-9658
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1890/03-0492