Salamander Aggressiveness Increases with Length of Territorial Ownership
Jaeger RG and Nunes VD. 1989. Salamander Aggressiveness Increases with Length of Territorial Ownership. Copeia. 1989(3):712-718
The red-backed salamander, Plethodon cinereus, inhabits forest floors of eastern North America where adults establish territories. We conducted a controlled laboratory experiment to test the hypothesis that long-term territorial residents are more tenacious in territorial defense than are short-term residents; this hypothesis is commonly believed to apply to most types of territorial animals but has seldom been tested experimentally. In laboratory chambers, males of P. cinereus were allowed to establish territories for either four or 12 days before an intruder was introduced. The 12 d residents exhibited significantly more aggressive behavior and significantly less submissive behavior toward intruders than did 4 d residents. Both types of residents differed significantly from their respective controls (no salamander intruder) in certain aspects of agonistic behavior, but the two control conditions did not differ significantly for any behavior measured. We infer that increasing knowledge of a territory leads to more tenacious defense and, thus, that a long-term resident is unlikely to be ousted from a territory by an intruder.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Jaeger, Robert; Nunes, Vania
- Units
- SHEN
- Keywords
- Animal Behavior, Animal Communities (Wildlife), Animal Studies, Eastern Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon cinereus), Monitoring, Research Report