Chapter 38
Salamander Dispersal
The salamanders, like tiny birds, locked into formation, fly
down into the endless mysteries of the transforming water, and
how could anyone believe that anything in this world is only
what it appears to be—that anything is ever final—that
anything, in spite of its absence, ever dies a perfect death?
(from the poem ‘What Is It?’)”.
(Mary Oliver, House of Light)
38.1 Salamander Dispersal Model
The models of the two previous chapters concentrated on biomanipulation of
populations within a given habitat. In this chapter we turn to the colonization of
new habitat by a species. Our example is for the spotted salamander (Ambystoma
maculatum), which is a pond breeding species found throughout most of the eastern
United States and southern Canada, west to eastern Iowa, and eastern Texas. Adults
breed in ephemeral woodland pools once a year in the spring. Females lay an
average of 125 eggs per clutch. Eggs hatch into an aquatic larvae after 1–2 months.
Larvae remain in the pond until they metamorphose into the terrestrial juvenile
stage within 2–4 months. Juveniles then disperse from their natal pond to surrounding forested areas remaining under leaf litter and dead logs or utilizing small
mammal burrows until they mature to a reproductive stage. Females are considered
mature after 7 years, and males are considered mature after 2–6 years. Adult
salamanders also travel to terrestrial areas away from the pond during the
nonbreeding season, yet they return to the same breeding pond every year, so
dispersal should occur primarily during the juvenile stage.
A save-disabled version of STELLA and the computer models of this book are available at
www.iseesystems.com/modelingdynamicbiologicalsystems.
B. Hannon and M. Ruth, Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems,
Modeling Dynamic Systems, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05615-9_38,
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
349
Salamander Dispersal
The salamanders, like tiny birds, locked into formation, fly
down into the endless mysteries of the transforming water, and
how could anyone believe that anything in this world is only
what it appears to be—that anything is ever final—that
anything, in spite of its absence, ever dies a perfect death?
(from the poem ‘What Is It?’)”.
(Mary Oliver, House of Light)
38.1 Salamander Dispersal Model
The models of the two previous chapters concentrated on biomanipulation of
populations within a given habitat. In this chapter we turn to the colonization of
new habitat by a species. Our example is for the spotted salamander (Ambystoma
maculatum), which is a pond breeding species found throughout most of the eastern
United States and southern Canada, west to eastern Iowa, and eastern Texas. Adults
breed in ephemeral woodland pools once a year in the spring. Females lay an
average of 125 eggs per clutch. Eggs hatch into an aquatic larvae after 1–2 months.
Larvae remain in the pond until they metamorphose into the terrestrial juvenile
stage within 2–4 months. Juveniles then disperse from their natal pond to surrounding forested areas remaining under leaf litter and dead logs or utilizing small
mammal burrows until they mature to a reproductive stage. Females are considered
mature after 7 years, and males are considered mature after 2–6 years. Adult
salamanders also travel to terrestrial areas away from the pond during the
nonbreeding season, yet they return to the same breeding pond every year, so
dispersal should occur primarily during the juvenile stage.
A save-disabled version of STELLA and the computer models of this book are available at
www.iseesystems.com/modelingdynamicbiologicalsystems.
B. Hannon and M. Ruth, Modeling Dynamic Biological Systems,
Modeling Dynamic Systems, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-05615-9_38,
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014
349