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Daversa DR, Manica A, Bintanel Cenis H, Lopez P, Garner TWJ, Bosch J. Alpine Newts (Ichthyosaura alpestris) Avoid Habitats Previously Used by Parasite-Exposed Conspecifics. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.636099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Many organisms avoid habitats posing risks of parasitism. Parasites are not generally conspicuous, however, which raises the question of what cues individuals use to detect parasitism risk. Here, we provide evidence in alpine newts (Ichthyosaura alpestris) that non-visual cues from parasite-exposed conspecifics inform habitat avoidance. Alpine newts breed in aquatic habitats and occasionally move among adjacent terrestrial habitat during breeding seasons. We completed experiments with newts whereby individuals had access to both habitats, and the aquatic habitats varied in prior occupancy by conspecifics with different histories of exposure to the parasitic skin fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Continuous filming of newt activity for 2 days provided little evidence that prior use of aquatic habitats by conspecifics, regardless of their Bd exposure history, immediately influenced newt habitat use. However, newts that encountered aquatic habitats used specifically by Bd-exposed conspecifics on day 1 spent less time aquatic on day 2, whereas other newts did not alter habitat use. Responses could have been elicited by cues generated by Bd stages on the conspecifics or, perhaps more likely, cues emitted by the conspecifics themselves. In either case, these observations suggest that newts use non-visual cues sourced from exposed conspecifics to detect Bd risk and that those cues cause newts to avoid aquatic habitats. Bd may therefore influence host behavior in early phases of interactions, and possibly before any contact with infectious stages is made, creating potential for non-consumptive effects.
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Kopecký O. Factors Affecting the Retention of Visible Implant Elastomer (VIE) Tags in Smooth Newts (Lissotriton vulgaris) During the Breeding Period. SOUTH AMERICAN JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY 2020. [DOI: 10.2994/sajh-d-17-00036.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Oldřich Kopecký
- Department of Zoology and Fisheries, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague. Kamýcká 129, Praha 6-Suchdol 165 21, Czech Republic
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Lüdtke DU, Foerster K. Choosy males court both large, colourful females and less colourful but responsive females for longer. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.09.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Croshaw D, Pechmann J. Size does not matter for male Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum). CAN J ZOOL 2015. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2014-0229] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the phenotypic attributes that contribute to variance in mating and reproductive success is crucial in the study of evolution by sexual selection. In many animals, body size is an important trait because larger individuals enjoy greater fitness due to the ability to secure more mates and produce more offspring. Among males, this outcome is largely mediated by greater success in competition with rival males and (or) advantages in attractiveness to females. Here we tested the hypothesis that large male Marbled Salamanders (Ambystoma opacum (Gravenhorst, 1807)) mate with more females and produce more offspring than small males. In experimental breeding groups, we included males chosen specifically to represent a range of sizes. After gravid females mated and nested freely, we collected egg clutches and genotyped all adults and samples of hatchlings with highly variable microsatellite markers to assign paternity. Size had little effect on male mating and reproductive success. Breeding males were not bigger than nonbreeding males, mates of polyandrous females were not smaller than those of monogamous females, and there was no evidence for positive assortative mating by size. Although body size did not matter for male Marbled Salamanders, we documented considerable fitness variation and discuss alternative traits that could be undergoing sexual selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- D.A. Croshaw
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, Fort Myers, FL 33965, USA; Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, PO Drawer E, Aiken, SC 29802, USA
| | - J.H.K. Pechmann
- Department of Biological Sciences, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723, USA
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Prunier JG, Kaufmann B, Léna JP, Fenet S, Pompanon F, Joly P. A 40-year-old divided highway does not prevent gene flow in the alpine newt Ichthyosaura alpestris. CONSERV GENET 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-013-0553-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Kopecký O, Vojar J, Šusta F, Rehák I. Composition and Scaling of Male and Female Alpine Newt (Mesotriton Alpestris) Prey, with Related Site and Seasonal Effects. ANN ZOOL FENN 2012. [DOI: 10.5735/086.049.0403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Sexual dimorphism in the skull geometry of newt species of Ichthyosaura, Triturus and Lissotriton (Salamandridae, Caudata, Amphibia). ZOOMORPHOLOGY 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s00435-011-0143-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/15/2022]
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A case of reproductive character displacement in female palmate newts (Lissotriton helveticus). C R Biol 2009; 332:548-57. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crvi.2009.02.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2008] [Revised: 02/02/2009] [Accepted: 02/02/2009] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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