Does the thermal mismatch hypothesis predict disease outcomes in different morphs of a terrestrial salamander?

Many aspects of ectotherm physiology are temperature-dependent. The immune system of temperate-dwelling ectothermic host species is no exception and their immune function is often downregulated in cold temperatures. Likewise, species of ectothermic pathogens experience temperature-mediated effects on rates of transmission and/or virulence.

Male mate preference as an agent of fecundity selection in a polymorphic salamander.

Color polymorphisms are associated with variation in other traits which may affect individual fitness, and these color-trait associations are expected to contribute to nonrandom mating in polymorphic species. The red-backed salamander () exhibits a polymorphism in dorsal pattern: striped and unstriped, and previous studies have suggested that they may mate nonrandomly. However, the mechanism(s) contributing to this behavior remain unclear.

Invasive Asian Earthworms Negatively Impact Keystone Terrestrial Salamanders.

Asian pheretimoid earthworms (e.g. Amynthas and Metaphire spp.

Ecological separation in a polymorphic terrestrial salamander.

1. When studying speciation, researchers commonly examine reproductive isolation in recently diverged populations. Polymorphic species provide an opportunity to examine the role of reproductive isolation in populations that may be in the process of divergence.

Edge effects and intraguild predation in native and introduced centipedes: evidence from the field and from laboratory microcosms.

Human alteration of habitat has increased the proportion of forest edge in areas of previously continuous forest. This edge habitat facilitates invasion of exotic species into remaining fragments. The ability of native species to resist invasion varies and may depend on intrinsic variables such as dispersal and reproductive rates as well as external factors such as rate of habitat change and the density of populations of introduced species in edge habitat.