Holguin, Charlie2023-09-202023-09-202023-09-19vt_gsexam:38376http://hdl.handle.net/10919/116305An amphibian's life history includes patterns such as growth, development, and reproduction. These life history traits are essential to the fundamental understanding of population dynamics. Despite the importance of life history traits, key knowledge gaps still exist, hindering key information on birth/death rates, age/size at sexual maturity, size at metamorphosis, and clutch sizes for amphibians. Moreover, these life patterns can vary due to environmental conditions such as temperature and food availability, further emphasizing the importance of knowledge of species demographics. In this study, I aimed to investigate the growth of young-of-the-year and juvenile plethodontid salamanders with different life cycles, Plethodon cinereus (direct development) and Eurycea cirrigera (metamorphosis). Specifically, I was interested in examining the response of growth trajectories to different temperatures and food availability. I hypothesized that salamanders in the high-temperature treatment will grow faster initially but will be smaller at the conclusion of the experiment, while salamanders in the low-temperature treatment will grow slower initially but will be larger at the end of the experiment. To investigate the interaction between body size and environmental conditions, I exposed both species of salamanders to a factorial design, with two food treatments crossed with two temperature treatments. To analyze the data, I used a generalized additive mixed model (GAMM). The study revealed distinct growth patterns for both species of salamanders. P. cinereus experienced linear growth throughout the duration of the study, whereas E. cirrigera displayed non-linear growth (Throughout the experiment, salamander experienced a decrease in total length and mass). The results of the GAMM did not support my hypothesis for P. cinereus. However, the GAMM results did provide support for my hypothesis in the case of E. cirrigera under high food availability treatment. Furthermore, salamanders with limited food availability in both experiments grew at a slower rate. Forecasting the impacts of climate change on salamander populations is complex and will require the understanding of habitat quality and climate factors.ETDenIn CopyrightKeywords: Body SizeGrowthTemperatureFood AvailabilityLife historyClimate changeThesis