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Drift compensation in larval European fire salamanders, Salamandra salamandra (Amphibia: Urodela)?

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Abstract

Organismic drift in lotic waters can have major impact on population dynamics. It is influenced by a variety of interacting abiotic and biotic factors, and species often have evolved specific strategies for drift avoidance and compensation. We studied downstream and upstream movements of larval fire salamanders (Salamandra salamandra) within three first-order streams in Germany using up- and downstream traps. We tested several predictions related to the influence of body size, water flow and inclination on the number of upstream and downstream moving larvae. Larval fire salamanders actively moved upstream in all creeks, however, in much lower numbers than downstream. The total body lengths of upstream and downstream moving larvae did not differ significantly; in contrast, downstream drifting larvae were smaller compared to non-drifting larvae collected randomly from the creeks in-between traps. There was no negative effect of the amount of water flow on larval upward movements, but significantly more larvae drifted downstream with the increasing water flow volume. There was no effect of inclination on the amount of either upstream or downstream movements. Our results indicate that upstream movements are a side product of a principle rheotactic behaviour, which prevents larvae from being drifted downstream.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the ‘Struktur- und Genehmigungsdirektion Nord’, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, for giving permission to study larval fire salamanders; Dr. U. Schulte for help in the field; Dr. Reinhard Bierl, Hydrology Department, Trier University, for help with water-level measurements; and Sasha Brownlie for improving the English language. The authors also thank the two anonymous reviewers who helped to improve the manuscript.

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  1. Department of Biogeography, Trier University, Universitätsring 15, 54296, Trier, Germany

    Michael Veith, Mark Baubkus, Simone Kugel, Caren Kulpa, Tanja Reifenrath, Malwina Schafft & Norman Wagner

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  1. Michael Veith
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  2. Mark Baubkus
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Correspondence to Michael Veith.

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Veith, M., Baubkus, M., Kugel, S. et al. Drift compensation in larval European fire salamanders, Salamandra salamandra (Amphibia: Urodela)?. Hydrobiologia 828, 315–325 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-018-3820-8

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