Demographic effects of phenological variation in natural populations of two pond-breeding salamanders.

Phenology is a key driver of population and community dynamics. Phenological metrics (e.g.

Abundance and phenology patterns of two pond-breeding salamanders determine species interactions in natural populations.

Phenology often determines the outcome of interspecific interactions, where early-arriving species often dominate interactions over those arriving later. The effects of phenology on species interactions are especially pronounced in aquatic systems, but the evidence is largely derived from experimental studies. We examined whether differences in breeding phenology between two pond-breeding salamanders (Ambystoma annulatum and A.

Effects of fine-scale forest habitat quality on movement and settling decisions in juvenile pond-breeding salamanders.

A better understanding of how individuals respond to variation in habitat quality while moving through heterogeneous habitats is needed to predict ecological phenomena at larger scales, such as local population and metapopulation dynamics. We sought to identify how fine-scale habitat quality affects the decisions of juvenile pond-breeding salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum and A. annulatum) to cease dispersive movements away from their natal pond, select a refuge, and settle.