EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021

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5/22/2018 | 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM | INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS ARE CONDITIONAL ON TEMPERATURE IN AN APPALACHIAN STREAM SALAMANDER COMMUNITY | 410 A

INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS ARE CONDITIONAL ON TEMPERATURE IN AN APPALACHIAN STREAM SALAMANDER COMMUNITY

Differences in the rates of responses to climate change has the potential to disrupt well-established ecological interactions among species. In semi-aquatic communities, competitive asymmetry based on body size currently maintains competitive exclusion and coexistence via interference competition. Elevated temperatures are predicted to have the strongest negative effects on large species and aquatic species. Our objectives were to evaluate the interaction between elevated temperatures and competitor identity on growth and habitat selection behavior of semi-aquatic salamanders in stream mesocosms. We observed interference competition between small and large species. Elevated temperatures had a negative effect on the larger species and a neutral effect on the smaller species. At elevated temperatures, the strength of interference competition declined, and the smaller species co-occupied the same aquatic cover object as the larger species more frequently. Disruptions in competitive interactions of this community may affect habitat use patterns and decrease selection for character displacement among species. Determining how biotic interactions change along abiotic gradients is necessary to predict the future long term stability of current communities.

Community
Temperature
Artificial Stream

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Presenters/Authors

Kristen Cecala (), University of the South, kkcecala@sewanee.edu;