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Interspecific interactions are conditional on temperature in an Appalachian stream salamander community

  • Global change ecology – original research
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Abstract

Differences in the rates of responses to climate change have 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 the effects of 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 objects as the larger species more frequently. Disruptions in competitive interactions in 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.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Saunders Drukker, Vanessa Moss, Katie Sutton, Lily Tidwell, and Emma Zeitler for assistance with animal collection, Alexandra Miles for assistance with habitat data collection, and Katie McGhee, Jon Evans, Brandon Moore and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Funding

Funding for this project was provided by the Aquarium and Zoos Facilities Association’s Clark Waldram Fund.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of the South, 735 University Ave, Sewanee, TN, 37383, USA

    Mary Lou Hoffacker & Kristen K. Cecala

  2. Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, 175 Baylor School Road, Chattanooga, TN, 37805, USA

    Joshua R. Ennen & Shawna M. Mitchell

  3. Department of Biology, Appalachian State University, 572 Rivers St., Boone, NC, 26808, USA

    Jon M. Davenport

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  1. Mary Lou Hoffacker
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  2. Kristen K. Cecala
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  3. Joshua R. Ennen
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  4. Shawna M. Mitchell
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  5. Jon M. Davenport
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Contributions

MH, KC, JE and JD designed the experiments; MH, KC, JE, SM and JD performed the research and collected the data; MH and KC analyzed the data and wrote the first draft with contributions from all.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristen K. Cecala.

Additional information

Communicated by Ross Andrew Alford.

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Hoffacker, M.L., Cecala, K.K., Ennen, J.R. et al. Interspecific interactions are conditional on temperature in an Appalachian stream salamander community. Oecologia 188, 623–631 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-018-4228-x

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