Properties that influence pond-breeding salamander density and predation in midwestern United States ephemeral wetlands

Ephemeral wetlands provide habitat for a variety of taxa and are often critical breeding locations for amphibians. Although the impacts of abiotic properties of wetlands on amphibians have been extensively tested, data regarding how biological characteristics of ephemeral wetlands shape amphibian populations is lacking. Across a series of wetlands, we captured and sampled larval pond-breeding salamanders and aquatic invertebrates, and quantified diet items of salamanders to examine what properties influence densities of larval salamanders, aquatic invertebrates, and properties that drive predation of salamanders on aquatic invertebrates. We found site-level and landscape-level properties influenced salamander and invertebrate densities. Our data suggest larval salamanders have a predation bias for and against certain taxa in wetlands. Salamanders selected against predation of invertebrate predators and selected primarily for the collector-filterer functional group. Despite these preferences, salamander predation did not have measurable influence on aquatic invertebrate density. Furthermore, although pond-breeding salamanders can reach high densities in ephemeral wetlands and select for specific prey items, they do not have measurable influence over macroinvertebrate community structure.

This dataset is associated with the following publication: Struecker, B., J. Milanovich, M. McIntosh, M. Berg, and M. Hopton. Selective predation by pond-breeding salamanders in ephemeral wetlands of Ohio and Illinois. . (ed.), JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY. Society for the Study of Amphibians & Reptiles, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, 55(3): 222-228, (2021).