Abiotic and Biotic Influences on the Movement of Reintroduced Chinese Giant Salamanders (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) in Two Montane Rivers
Understanding animal movement is a key question in ecology and biodiversity conservation, which is particularly important for the success of reintroduction projects. The movement of critically endangered Chinese giant salamander (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) remains poorly understood due t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-05-01
|
| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/6/1480 |
| _version_ | 1797533295415656448 |
|---|---|
| author | Qijun Wang Lu Zhang Hu Zhao Qing Zhao Jie Deng Fei Kong Wei Jiang Hongxing Zhang Hong Liu Andrew Kouba |
| author_facet | Qijun Wang Lu Zhang Hu Zhao Qing Zhao Jie Deng Fei Kong Wei Jiang Hongxing Zhang Hong Liu Andrew Kouba |
| author_sort | Qijun Wang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Understanding animal movement is a key question in ecology and biodiversity conservation, which is particularly important for the success of reintroduction projects. The movement of critically endangered Chinese giant salamander (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) remains poorly understood due to the rareness of wild individuals of this species. We lack movement details about the full annual cycle after reintroduction, especially the abiotic and biotic influences that affect its movement. We utilized pilot reintroduction projects as opportunities to fill in some knowledge gaps on their movement ecology. We released 31 juvenile captive-reared Chinese giant salamanders of two age groups in two rivers in the Qinling Mountains of central China and monitored their daily movements for 16 months using surgically implanted radio transmitters. We examined the impacts of individual traits (body mass, body condition) and environmental conditions (temperature, precipitation, and moon phase) on their daily movement patterns. Data were analyzed using a mixed-effects logistic regression model to understand the drivers of their movement tendency (i.e., whether they move or not) and a linear mixed-effects model was used to understand the drivers of their movement distance. We found that movement tendency of the older salamander cohort was positively affected by the moon phase, increasing near the Full Moon, whereas the younger cohort of animals were not impacted by the moon phase. For daily distance moved, we found temperature had a strong positive effect on both cohorts, whereas precipitation had moderate but opposite effects on the two cohorts Body mass and body condition did not have any significant impacts on either age classes’ movement tendency or distance. This study provides insight into the abiotic factors that impact the temporal and spatial movement ecology of reintroduced giant salamander, which will in turn help with designing best practices for future releases and conservation of this iconic montane aquatic predator. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:12:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-af2b69df38094943aee20f29ee9db90f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T11:12:31Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-af2b69df38094943aee20f29ee9db90f2023-11-21T20:41:44ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152021-05-01116148010.3390/ani11061480Abiotic and Biotic Influences on the Movement of Reintroduced Chinese Giant Salamanders (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) in Two Montane RiversQijun Wang0Lu Zhang1Hu Zhao2Qing Zhao3Jie Deng4Fei Kong5Wei Jiang6Hongxing Zhang7Hong Liu8Andrew Kouba9College of Fisheries, Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair/Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, ChinaSchool of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, ChinaShaanxi Institute of Zoology, 88 Xingqing Road, Xi’an 710032, ChinaSchool of Natural Resources, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USAShaanxi Institute of Zoology, 88 Xingqing Road, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Institute of Zoology, 88 Xingqing Road, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Institute of Zoology, 88 Xingqing Road, Xi’an 710032, ChinaShaanxi Institute of Zoology, 88 Xingqing Road, Xi’an 710032, ChinaCollege of Fisheries, Key Lab of Freshwater Animal Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affair/Key Lab of Agricultural Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Ministry of Education, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430070, ChinaDepartment of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS 39762, USAUnderstanding animal movement is a key question in ecology and biodiversity conservation, which is particularly important for the success of reintroduction projects. The movement of critically endangered Chinese giant salamander (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) remains poorly understood due to the rareness of wild individuals of this species. We lack movement details about the full annual cycle after reintroduction, especially the abiotic and biotic influences that affect its movement. We utilized pilot reintroduction projects as opportunities to fill in some knowledge gaps on their movement ecology. We released 31 juvenile captive-reared Chinese giant salamanders of two age groups in two rivers in the Qinling Mountains of central China and monitored their daily movements for 16 months using surgically implanted radio transmitters. We examined the impacts of individual traits (body mass, body condition) and environmental conditions (temperature, precipitation, and moon phase) on their daily movement patterns. Data were analyzed using a mixed-effects logistic regression model to understand the drivers of their movement tendency (i.e., whether they move or not) and a linear mixed-effects model was used to understand the drivers of their movement distance. We found that movement tendency of the older salamander cohort was positively affected by the moon phase, increasing near the Full Moon, whereas the younger cohort of animals were not impacted by the moon phase. For daily distance moved, we found temperature had a strong positive effect on both cohorts, whereas precipitation had moderate but opposite effects on the two cohorts Body mass and body condition did not have any significant impacts on either age classes’ movement tendency or distance. This study provides insight into the abiotic factors that impact the temporal and spatial movement ecology of reintroduced giant salamander, which will in turn help with designing best practices for future releases and conservation of this iconic montane aquatic predator.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/6/1480body conditiondemographicsmoon phasemovementprecipitationreintroduction |
| spellingShingle | Qijun Wang Lu Zhang Hu Zhao Qing Zhao Jie Deng Fei Kong Wei Jiang Hongxing Zhang Hong Liu Andrew Kouba Abiotic and Biotic Influences on the Movement of Reintroduced Chinese Giant Salamanders (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) in Two Montane Rivers Animals body condition demographics moon phase movement precipitation reintroduction |
| title | Abiotic and Biotic Influences on the Movement of Reintroduced Chinese Giant Salamanders (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) in Two Montane Rivers |
| title_full | Abiotic and Biotic Influences on the Movement of Reintroduced Chinese Giant Salamanders (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) in Two Montane Rivers |
| title_fullStr | Abiotic and Biotic Influences on the Movement of Reintroduced Chinese Giant Salamanders (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) in Two Montane Rivers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Abiotic and Biotic Influences on the Movement of Reintroduced Chinese Giant Salamanders (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) in Two Montane Rivers |
| title_short | Abiotic and Biotic Influences on the Movement of Reintroduced Chinese Giant Salamanders (<i>Andrias davidianus</i>) in Two Montane Rivers |
| title_sort | abiotic and biotic influences on the movement of reintroduced chinese giant salamanders i andrias davidianus i in two montane rivers |
| topic | body condition demographics moon phase movement precipitation reintroduction |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/6/1480 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT qijunwang abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT luzhang abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT huzhao abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT qingzhao abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT jiedeng abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT feikong abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT weijiang abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT hongxingzhang abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT hongliu abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers AT andrewkouba abioticandbioticinfluencesonthemovementofreintroducedchinesegiantsalamandersiandriasdavidianusiintwomontanerivers |