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Ecological and Evolutionary Responses of a Polymorphic Amphibian, Plethodon Cinereus, to Climate Change

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Ecological and Evolutionary Responses of a Polymorphic Amphibian, Plethodon Cinereus, to Climate Change University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Doctoral Dissertations University of Connecticut Graduate School 4-26-2020 Ecological and Evolutionary Responses of a Polymorphic Amphibian, Plethodon cinereus, to Climate Change Annette Evans University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations Recommended Citation Evans, Annette, "Ecological and Evolutionary Responses of a Polymorphic Amphibian, Plethodon cinereus, to Climate Change" (2020). Doctoral Dissertations. 2481. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/dissertations/2481 Ecological and Evolutionary Responses of a Polymorphic Amphibian, Plethodon cinereus, to Climate Change Annette Elizabeth Evans, PhD University of Connecticut, 2020 Global climate is changing at an alarming rate and how species will respond to the associated environmental changes remains largely uncertain. The multidimensional selective pressures created by climate change often make it difficult to determine both if and how species are likely to respond. Spatial and temporal changes in environmental conditions, particularly temperature, often have a disproportionate impact on amphibians, which typically require cool, moist conditions to survive. My dissertation research examines how climate change, specifically temperature, influences the ecological and evolutionary responses of a color polymorphic salamander, Plethodon cinereus. This salamander has two main color morphs, striped and unstriped, which vary spatially in their relative abundances and show a variety of physiological, dietary, and behavioral differences. These differences suggest that these color morphs may have different ecological or evolutionary strategies and hence may respond differently to stressors associated with climate change. Through a combination of field observations, controlled lab experiments, and ecological modelling my dissertation extends our knowledge into how temperature impacts the ecology and evolution of P. cinereus. In Chapter 1, I resurveyed P. cinereus populations originally surveyed in the 1970s to determine how climate change has impacted morph proportions. My results suggest Annette Elizabeth Evans University of Connecticut, 2020 climate is important across space, although we observed no significant changes in relative morph proportions in response to climatic changes over time. Chapter 2 expands on this work by determining whether forest cover interacts with climate to buffer salamander populations from recent climate changes. My results show that forests are buffering salamander populations, but also suggests that forest cover alone cannot explain spatial and temporal variations in morph frequencies across New England. In Chapter 3, I tested whether temperature affected the coloration and development of P. cinereus. I found evidence that developmental temperature influences hatchling coloration– either via plasticity or differential mortality. Finally, in Chapter 4 I tested the thermal sensitivity of various physiological traits to determine whether color morphs differed physiologically. All the physiological traits I measured were sensitive to temperature and I found that morphs differed in some, but not all physiological traits. Ecological and Evolutionary Responses of a Polymorphic Amphibian, Plethodon cinereus, to Climate Change Annette Elizabeth Evans B.S., University of Auckland, 2010 M.S., University of Auckland, 2013 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Connecticut 2020 I Copyright by Annette Elizabeth Evans 2020 ii APPROVAL PAGE Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation Ecological and Evolutionary Responses of a Polymorphic Amphibian, Plethodon cinereus, to Climate Change Presented by Annette Elizabeth Evans, B.S., M.S. Co-Major Advisor _______________________________________________________ Elizabeth L. Jockusch Co-Major Advisor _______________________________________________________ Mark C. Urban Associate Advisor _______________________________________________________ Kentwood D. Wells Associate Advisor _______________________________________________________ Morgan W. Tingley University of Connecticut 2020 iii Acknowledgements This dissertation was made possible thanks to the support and encouragement of many wonderful people from around the world. People often say that you are lucky if you get a good PhD advisor and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had not one, but two amazing advisors, Elizabeth Jockusch and Mark Urban. Over the past six years you both have been my harshest critics and my biggest cheerleaders, and I couldn’t have done this without your unwavering support. To my committee members, Morgan Tingley and Kentwood Wells, your knowledge of statistics and herpetology have strengthened my research and given me confidence in my own research abilities. I feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from you, thank you for all the support and advice you have provided me throughout my dissertation. Special thanks to Kurt Schwenk, Eric Schultz, and Carlos Garcia-Robledo who all served as faculty committee members on general exams and dissertation defenses. I literally could not have finished my dissertation without you. Thanks also to Dave Wagner without whom I would never have applied to pursue my PhD at UConn. Thanks to the Jockusch and Urban labs for reading and listening to a ridiculous number of research drafts, presentations, endless struggles, and general science musing. To the many research assistants who have volunteered their time and energy to helping me collect my dissertation data – you have my eternal gratitude! Thanks also to the many incredible collaborators and herpetology peers from whom I’ve learnt so much from, I am a better scientist thanks to your help! Also thank you to the numerous people who provided food, accommodation, and site access during my field surveys, whose generosity made much of my research possible. iv Thank you to the EEB Department, particularly all the office staff who have encouraged, copied, printed, signed, and chased paperwork. Without your help, myself along with countless other EEB grads would have been lost. Thank you to all the wonderful EEB graduate students, your support and camaraderie has been a highlight of my time at UConn and I cannot think of a better group of people with which I could have shared this crazy journey with. Extra special thanks to my amazing cohort for going through the trials and tribulations of this PhD journey alongside me, for helping me with statistics (thanks Chris Nadeau!), writing with me (senior grad writing group!), and sharing in study distractions (Pottery – thanks Katie Taylor!). Thanks also to my non-UConn friends and family throughout America and back home in New Zealand. Your support, skype calls, and games nights have kept me sane, even during the difficult times. To my family back in New Zealand, thank you for your continued love and support over the 10+ years that I pursued multiple university degrees. Your encouragement to follow my dreams, no matter where in the world they take me, has been incredible and thank you for putting up with my stress and anxieties throughout my academic journey thus far. To my pooch Ngaio, who continuously reminds me there is more to life than just research (and that I should exercise more). Finally, this dissertation would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my husband, Mark Smith. You have picked me up off the floor (sometimes quite literally) countless times and my early field work adventures would not have been a success without your help and encouragement. You believe in me, even when I do not. I am so grateful for your love and patience, and I feel so lucky to have someone who shares my passion for biology and science. v Dedication I dedicate this work to my family, who have always encouraged and nurtured my love of biology, and never doubted my place in the scientific community. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Overall Introduction……………………………………………………………………..……... 1 References……………………………………………………………..………………..……... 6 Chapter One: Salamander Morph Frequencies Do Not Evolve as Predicted In Response to 40 Years of Climate Change. Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………..…. 12 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…… 12 Methods……………………………………………………………….…………….………… 14 Results…………………………………………………………………………….…………... 16 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………….………. 17 References…………………………………………………………………………….……… 20 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………….……… 23 Chapter Two: Can Forest Cover Mediate the Evolutionary Responses of a Terrestrial Salamander to Climate Change? Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………..…. 38 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…… 39 Methods……………………………………………………………….…………….………… 42 Results…………………………………………………………………………….…………... 49 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………….………. 52 References…………………………………………………………………………….……… 59 vii Appendices…………………………………………………………………………….……… 65 Chapter Three: Developmental Temperature Influences Color Polymorphism but not Hatchling Size in a Woodland Salamander. Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………..…. 78 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….…… 78 Methods……………………………………………………………….…………….………… 79 Results…………………………………………………………………………….…………... 81 Discussion…………………………………………………………………………….………. 82 References…………………………………………………………………………….……… 85 Appendices…………………………………………………………………………….……… 88 Chapter Four: Thermal Sensitivity
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