Photo 4: Desmognathus monticola copyright: 2007 Twan Leenders
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| Photo 5: Desmognathus ocoee copyright: Grant Connette 2009 |
Photo 6: Eurycea wilderae copyright: Twan Leenders 2007
Photo 7: Ambystoma californiense copyright: Melissa Newman
Photo 8: Ambystoma mavortium copyright Gary Nafis and Courtesy of Brad Schaeffer & Dylan Dietrich-Reed, UC Davis
Photo 9: Hybrid between A. californiense and A. mavortium copyright Gary Nafis and Courtesy of Brad Schaeffer & Dylan Dietrich-Reed, UC Davis
Photo 10: Paedomorphic adult Ambystomid salamander that is capable of reproduction copyright: Randy Babb
Photo 11: Cryptobranchus alleganiense copyright: 2011 Michael Graziano
Photo 12: Necturus maculosus copyright: Twan leenders 2006
Photo 13: Amphiuma tridactylum copyright: 2008 Brad Moon
Photo 14: Pseudobranchus copyright: 2012 Michael Graziano
Photo 15: Desmognathus carolinensis copyright: Nathan Shepard 2012
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Yes, another salamander lover!! I was instantly intrigued by the name of your blog. Alright, I think you packed your blog with excellent information regarding the current status of amphibians and elaborated on the major threats to their existence. Bp is one of the greatest issues affecting amphibians since they are extremely sensitive. Hopefully something will be discovered soon to help save some populations of amphibians.
ReplyDeleteI think your blog flowed very well, I was able to clearly read the headlines to get a sense of what you were going to write about. I think it is great that you cited UC Davis researchers since this is actually a local problem. I am originally from the Santa Rosa area and that is where I discovered the cute CA tiger salamander. The big problem in Santa Rosa is due to urbanization which in turn is decreasing their habitat. Also, there is a highway that intersects the salamanders tunnels and their route to the vernal pools. It was really sad to hear about how the population was greatly declining because a lot were getting run over while making their ways to the pools. I think it would have been good for your blog to go over amphibian reproduction and their dependence on water.
I really enjoyed reading your blog especially all of the research that is currently being conducted about BP and how range shifts are also having a huge impact on their populations. Hopefully all this research will lead to some sort of solution to at least mitigate the negative effects due to global warming.
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for commenting on my blog! I was starting to worry that no one cared about salamanders! :D And that's really sad about the salamanders getting run over. I hope someone is working to remedy that situation.
DeleteI think you did a really great job explaining how limited habitat greatly impacts the different salamander species because they are so specialized in where they can live. Figure 3 really helped me understand how difficult it is to track and study these animals. I think it is really interesting that fully-aquatic salamanders have not had significant population drops due to Bd. The section of what is being done to conserve the biodiversity of salamanders was much appreciated after reading about all of the different stressors and threats these organisms face.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the P. sherando and P. cinereus hybrids can breed with either species. It would be interesting to see if their crossbreeding is actually beneficial to the species because it can increase genetic diversity and population. I also wonder how this scenario compares with the hybridization study of Ambystoma californiense and Ambystoma mavortium. I think your blog would be more reader-friendly if the photos of the different species were incorporated into the blog so the reader wouldn’t have to keep scrolling back and forth. I really enjoyed reading your blog and looking at all of the pictures of these slimey looking critters.
The name of your blog in the url list got me interested because I wrote my blog on a relationship between amphibian species and pollution. Your blog is well organized; the contents under each subheading talked logically and precisely making your blog to be very easy to follow. Given examples of species that are influenced by issues you posed enhanced the blog's contents. I did a lot of research on amphibians, but I learned more things from your blog. It was interesting to learn that some species were highly dependent on vegetation type and temperature and that changes in the regions where they habitat can cause them to migrate, resulting in speciation. As you pointed out, species will likely have their habitat more restricted with climate change. In addition, amphibians are vulnerable to temperature and precipitation because of their delicate skin. In some amphibian species, water temperature can affect the speed of egg development and growth of offspring, which directly affects the number of population. High temperature of water may also influence the metabolic rate of aquatic amphibian species. Overall, it was an informative, enlightening blog. I found a lot of things in common in our blogs, how cool! I really enjoyed reading your blog.
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