Tiger salamander feeding preference mesocosm trials (Ambystomatidae)

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Method synopsis

Controlled feeding trials in plastic mesocosms where starved salamanders are presented with multiple prey types and their consumption and foraging behavior is observed and quantified over a fixed time period.

Synthesized from method descriptions across 8 papers using this protocol.

Procedure from a recent peer-reviewed implementation

Steps below were extracted from the most recent peer-reviewed implementation of this protocol in the corpus — Consumptive and nonconsumptive effects of cannibalism in fluctuating age-structured populations (2010), Ecology. The protocol was originally introduced by Vascular Plants of the Gothic Area (1993). Implementations in other papers (listed below) may differ.

1. Establish microcosm experiments
   Set up plastic cattle watering tanks (0.25 m² bottom area) with 15 cm water depth and 2.5 cm detrital substrate depth. Add two rocks (~400 cm²) and 400-cm² clumps of emergent vegetation (Carex aquatilis) to provide refugia types used by larvae in natural ponds.
   Quantities: Multiple tanks, each 0.25 m² with specific substrate and refuge measurementsDuration: Initial setup before 24-hour acclimation periodConditions: Located adjacent to natural ponds at field laboratory
   Equipment: plastic cattle watering tanks, detrital substrate, rocks, Carex aquatilis vegetation
2. Add invertebrate prey base
   Introduce benthic and planktonic invertebrates including worms, midges, epiphytic crustaceans, beetles, corrixid hemipterans, winged adults, and hatched invertebrates from oviposited eggs (chironomids, midges, mosquitoes, odonates, caddisflies). Supplement with zooplankton from source ponds.
   Quantities: Variety of invertebrates to establish prey baseDuration: At start of each experimentConditions: Pre-experimental samples indicated invertebrate biomass was higher than in source ponds
   Equipment: various invertebrate taxa, zooplankton from source ponds
3. Introduce experimental animals

Typical Equipment

• 52 cm × 36.5 cm plastic boxes
• observation recording materials
• sifting equipment
• camera for photos

Output Measurements

• prey consumption rates
• prey selectivity indices
• foraging encounter rates
• attack success rates

Papers Using This Protocol (8)

Species Studied With This Protocol

Places Where Used