Meeting Abstract
Many animals are able to live in a wide range of environmental conditions. For example, widespread species tolerate a broad range of temperature and moisture conditions. Such species must possess traits and strategies that allow them to cope with the physiological consequences of climatic variation. One mechanism by which animals persist in variable climates is the evolution of morphological variation. Morphology affects all aspects of the organism, especially individual fitness. Specifically, morphology may alter performance, which in turn affects overall fitness. The red-backed salamander (Plethodon cinereus) is a lungless woodland salamander that relies on its environment for gas exchange. Thus, it requires a cool and moist microhabitat at all times. Yet, it occurs along an extreme climate gradient, from North Carolina, US to Quebec, CAN. The major behavioral strategy that P. cinereus uses to evade unfavorable climates is burrowing in underground retreats. We were interested in whether individuals from warmer and drier sites have developed morphological traits that promote burrowing behavior. We predicted that individuals from warmer and drier sites would have wider heads and longer toes. We based our prediction on the observation that mole salamanders (Ambystoma species) have large heads and long toes for burrowing the majority of the year. We measured morphological traits of salamanders collected from ten transects along an elevation gradient on Salt Pond Mountain, VA. Our results will shed light on the capacity for morphological variation in salamanders to promote resilience to climate warming.
