Experimental Validation of Biophysical Models of Tiger Salamanders (<i> Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum </i>)
Abstract
Arizona tiger salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum) can thrive in a large variety of environments including high elevation ecosystems where climate change conditions are most drastic. Accurate biophysical models of the water loss and operative temperature for A. m. nebulosum can be used as tools to investigate two major environmental constraints faced by amphibians under climate change: exposure to water loss and extreme temperatures. The purpose of this study was to validate plaster biophysical models to use in future Arizona tiger salamander ecophysiology research. Objective 1 was to construct a constant humidity chamber for the biophysical model validation experiments. The chamber maintained a 55 ± 5% relative humidity at 17 ℃ with a saturated magnesium chloride solution. Objective 2 was to compare model water loss and temperature to live tiger salamanders in the constant humidity chamber. A model and a live salamander were placed into individual mesh containers in the constant humidity chamber. The water loss and temperature change of models and salamanders were tracked during the 150- minute trials. The loss of water rate proved to be insignificant between the models and salamanders validating this biophysical model. Future field experiments will be able to use these models, but modifications to the models can be used to improve upon their design.
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References (25)
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