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Assessing The Use Of Non-Lethal Tail Clips For Measuring Stable Isotopes Of Plethodontid Salamanders, Joseph Milanovich, John Maerz
Assessing The Use Of Non-Lethal Tail Clips For Measuring Stable Isotopes Of Plethodontid Salamanders, Joseph Milanovich, John Maerz
Joseph Milanovich
Stable isotopes are increasingly used in ecology to study the diets, trophic position, and migratory patterns of wildlife including herpetofauna. When using stable isotopes, it is important to consider which tissues can or should be sampled, and how selecting tissues may affect the inferences drawn from stable isotope data. Amphibians offer fewer tissues than other larger organisms that can be harvested in sufficient quantity without killing the animal; however, many salamanders have tails that readily autotomize and regenerate. We used three species of plethodontid salamander (Plethodon cinereus, P. metcalfi, and Desmognathus quadramaculatus) to determine whether distal tail tissue had carbon …
Lead-Phase And Red-Stripe Color Morphs Of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) Differ In Hematological Stress Indices: A Consequence Of Differential Predation Pressure?, Andrew Davis, Joseph Milanovich
Lead-Phase And Red-Stripe Color Morphs Of Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus) Differ In Hematological Stress Indices: A Consequence Of Differential Predation Pressure?, Andrew Davis, Joseph Milanovich
Joseph Milanovich
Throughout the animal kingdom there are species that have two or more phenotypic forms or ‘morphs’, and many of these are amphibians. In North America, the red-backed salamander Plethodon cinereus can have either a red dorsal stripe or no dorsal stripe (lead-phase form), and evidence to date indicates the lead-phase form incurs a greater number of attacks from predators. In a recent collection of 51 P. cinereus, blood smears of both color morphs (35 red-stripe, 16 lead-phase) were examined to obtain numbers of circulating leukocytes (via light microscopy), which can be used to indirectly estimate levels of stress hormones in …
Projected Loss Of A Salamander Diversity Hotspot As A Consequence Of Projected Global Climate Change, Joseph Milanovich, William Peterman, Nathan Nibbelink, John Maerz
Projected Loss Of A Salamander Diversity Hotspot As A Consequence Of Projected Global Climate Change, Joseph Milanovich, William Peterman, Nathan Nibbelink, John Maerz
Joseph Milanovich
Significant shifts in climate are considered a threat to plants and animals with significant physiological limitations and limited dispersal abilities. The southern Appalachian Mountains are a global hotspot for plethodontid salamander diversity. Plethodontids are lungless ectotherms, so their ecology is strongly governed by temperature and precipitation. Many plethodontid species in southern Appalachia exist in high elevation habitats that may be at or near their thermal maxima, and may also have limited dispersal abilities across warmer valley bottoms.
Invasion By Exotic Earthworms Alters Litter- And Soil-Dwelling Oribatid Mites, Jordan Burke, John Maerz, Joseph Milanovich, Melanie Fisk, Kamal Gandhi
Invasion By Exotic Earthworms Alters Litter- And Soil-Dwelling Oribatid Mites, Jordan Burke, John Maerz, Joseph Milanovich, Melanie Fisk, Kamal Gandhi
Joseph Milanovich
Exotic earthworms are drivers of biotic communities in invaded North American forest stands. Here we used ecologically important oribatid mite (Arachnida: Acari) communities, as model organisms to study the responses of litter- and soil-dwelling microarthropod communities to exotic earthworm invasion in a northern temperate forest. Litter- and soil-dwelling mites were sampled in 2008–2009 from forest areas: (1) with no earthworms; (2) those with epigeic and endogeic species, including Lumbricus rubellus Hoffmeister; and (3) those with epigeic, endogeic, and anecic earthworms including L. terrestris L. Species richness and diversity of litter- and soil-dwelling (0–2 cm soil depth) oribatid mites was 1–2 …