{"id":{"repo_id":"mo-state","oai_identifier":"oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-2290"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mo-state/oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-2290","repository":{"repo_id":"mo-state","name":"Missouri State University","base_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"Behavioral and Metabolic Responses of Juvenile Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma Maculatum) to Alarm Cues from Damaged Skin and Predator Diet","abstract":"Fitness can be maximized for individuals that are able to assess the level of predation risk and perform appropriate antipredator behaviors when predation risk is high. I investigated the ability of lab-reared juvenile spotted salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum, to assess predation risk via chemical alarm cues and substrate markings from predators fed different diets. In the alarm-cue experiment, salamanders avoided substrates marked with alarm cues but not from noninjured conspecifics or alarm stimuli from heterospecifics. Snakes that had recently consumed salamanders might represent a greater threat than snakes that had consumed other prey, but salamanders did not discriminate between markings of water snake predators fed different diets in any of the three experiments (i.e., no differences in avoidance, foraging or oxygen consumption). However, salamanders tended to avoid (P = 0.054) cues from water snakes regardless of diet and showed longer latencies to feed when exposed to chemical stimuli from snakes. Data for oxygen consumption are only preliminary due to low sample size; additional data are required before definitive conclusions can be made. Overall, chemical cues associated with predation risk are likely to play an important role in the ecology of post-metamorphic spotted salamanders.","abstract_html":"Fitness can be maximized for individuals that are able to assess the level of predation risk and perform appropriate antipredator behaviors when predation risk is high. I investigated the ability of lab-reared juvenile spotted salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum, to assess predation risk via chemical alarm cues and substrate markings from predators fed different diets. In the alarm-cue experiment, salamanders avoided substrates marked with alarm cues but not from noninjured conspecifics or alarm stimuli from heterospecifics. Snakes that had recently consumed salamanders might represent a greater threat than snakes that had consumed other prey, but salamanders did not discriminate between markings of water snake predators fed different diets in any of the three experiments (i.e., no differences in avoidance, foraging or oxygen consumption). However, salamanders tended to avoid (P = 0.054) cues from water snakes regardless of diet and showed longer latencies to feed when exposed to chemical stimuli from snakes. Data for oxygen consumption are only preliminary due to low sample size; additional data are required before definitive conclusions can be made. Overall, chemical cues associated with predation risk are likely to play an important role in the ecology of post-metamorphic spotted salamanders.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hunt, Robert Lee"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Biology","degree_level":"Masters","degree_discipline":"Biology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Alicia Mathis"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-05-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2011-05-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:17Z","subjects":["alarm","behavior","chemosensory","predation","salamander","Biology"],"languages":[],"rights":["© Robert Lee Hunt"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1289","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Alicia Mathis"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hunt, Robert Lee"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Biology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Biology"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["alarm","behavior","chemosensory","predation","salamander","Biology"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["© Robert Lee Hunt"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1289"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Fitness can be maximized for individuals that are able to assess the level of predation risk and perform appropriate antipredator behaviors when predation risk is high. I investigated the ability of lab-reared juvenile spotted salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum, to assess predation risk via chemical alarm cues and substrate markings from predators fed different diets. In the alarm-cue experiment, salamanders avoided substrates marked with alarm cues but not from noninjured conspecifics or alarm stimuli from heterospecifics. Snakes that had recently consumed salamanders might represent a greater threat than snakes that had consumed other prey, but salamanders did not discriminate between markings of water snake predators fed different diets in any of the three experiments (i.e., no differences in avoidance, foraging or oxygen consumption). However, salamanders tended to avoid (P = 0.054) cues from water snakes regardless of diet and showed longer latencies to feed when exposed to chemical stimuli from snakes. Data for oxygen consumption are only preliminary due to low sample size; additional data are required before definitive conclusions can be made. Overall, chemical cues associated with predation risk are likely to play an important role in the ecology of post-metamorphic spotted salamanders."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Behavioral and Metabolic Responses of Juvenile Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma Maculatum) to Alarm Cues from Damaged Skin and Predator Diet"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Alicia Mathis"],"dc:creator":["Hunt, Robert Lee"],"dc:description.abstract":["Fitness can be maximized for individuals that are able to assess the level of predation risk and perform appropriate antipredator behaviors when predation risk is high. I investigated the ability of lab-reared juvenile spotted salamanders, Ambystoma maculatum, to assess predation risk via chemical alarm cues and substrate markings from predators fed different diets. In the alarm-cue experiment, salamanders avoided substrates marked with alarm cues but not from noninjured conspecifics or alarm stimuli from heterospecifics. Snakes that had recently consumed salamanders might represent a greater threat than snakes that had consumed other prey, but salamanders did not discriminate between markings of water snake predators fed different diets in any of the three experiments (i.e., no differences in avoidance, foraging or oxygen consumption). However, salamanders tended to avoid (P = 0.054) cues from water snakes regardless of diet and showed longer latencies to feed when exposed to chemical stimuli from snakes. Data for oxygen consumption are only preliminary due to low sample size; additional data are required before definitive conclusions can be made. Overall, chemical cues associated with predation risk are likely to play an important role in the ecology of post-metamorphic spotted salamanders."],"dc:identifier":["https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/1289"],"dc:rights":["© Robert Lee Hunt"],"dc:subject":["alarm","behavior","chemosensory","predation","salamander","Biology"],"dc:title":["Behavioral and Metabolic Responses of Juvenile Spotted Salamanders (Ambystoma Maculatum) to Alarm Cues from Damaged Skin and Predator Diet"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Biology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Biology"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:16:17Z"}