Observations on the population ecology of the cave salamander, eurycea lucifuga

[摘要] Salamanders are potentially important constituents of subterranean ecosystems, but relatively little is known about theireffects in caves. A common facultative hypogean salamander in the eastern United States is the Cave salamander,Eurycea lucifuga (Rafinesque, 1822). Despite being common and widespread, little more than basic information existsfor this species. Herein, we provide new data concerning open population modeling, demographics, wet-biomass, anddensity estimation for a population in a small Kentucky spring cave. We have found population abundances of this speciesto be much higher than previously reported, and describe low capture probabilities and high survival probabilities.Average wet-weight per individual was 2.90 g, and estimated seasonal population wet-biomass peaked at 1426.8 g.Mean salamander density and wet-biomass density are 0.08 salamanders m2 and 0.22 g m2, respectively. The datawe provide indicate that Cave salamanders have important ecological impacts on small spring cave systems.

[学科分类] 地质学