Modules – Salamander Population & Adaptation Research Collaboration Network

Provides a summary of literature on red-back salamander ecology and life history, all compiled by biology students at Susquehanna University
Matlaga, T., Department of Biology Students, F. 2. (2018). An Introduction to Red Backed Salamander Ecology. SPARCnet: Educational Resources, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/Q4Z684.

Collecting data on how populations respond to environmental change requires accurate estimates of population sizes. This activity explores one method for estimating population sizes across three different localities.
Mead, L., Grayson, K., Warwick, A., Miller, D., Sutherland, C., Grant, E. (2017). How Many Salamanders are in the forest? Testing capture-recapture. SPARCnet: Educational Resources, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/Q4637W.

A salamander mark-recapture module where students field collect a third survey occasion to estimate population size.
Grayson, K. and Hernández Pacheco, R. (2018). Salamander Mark-Recapture using SPARCnet plots with the Schnabel Method. SPARCnet: Educational Resources, (Version 2.0). QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/Q4XM8Z.

Students will set up transects with clay models of the two color morphs (striped, lead) and monitor them daily to record predation events over the course of two weeks. The goal of the study is to test whether the two morphs experience differential ‘survival’ as a result of predation. Data will be aggregated and analyzed across all transects. Discussion of the data should also address experimental design and any issues that may arise during data collection.
Warwick, A., Mead, L., Fisher-Reid, M. C., Grant, E., Sutherland, C., Wills, A., Perry, E. (2018). Claymander Field Experiment. SPARCnet: Educational Resources, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/Q46Q4Z.

Lab was designed to be utilized within the context SPARCnet to better understand the food sources of the red-backed salamander by investigating leaf litter and soil invertebrate diversity across SPARCnet plots.
Matlaga, T., Mausteller, E. (2018). Leaf litter and soil invertebrates. SPARCnet: Educational Resources, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/Q4VB29.

One Species, Two Species, Red Species, Lead Species: Phylogenetics and Species Concepts with Plethodon salamanders.

Lab introduces students to species concepts and basic computer-based tree-building methods using published nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data for Plethodon salamanders.
Fisher-Reid, M. C. (2017). One species, two species, red species, lead species? Phylogenetics and species concepts with Plethodon salamanders. SPARCnet: Educational Resources, QUBES Educational Resources. doi:10.25334/Q4N66K.