Life-history costs of reproductive behaviors in a wetland-breeding amphibian

Studies examining the association between life-history strategies and behavior can help inform our understanding of the fitness consequences of reproductive behaviors. Breeding migrations are common in numerous taxa and often represent an important reproductive cost. We examined body mass changes of spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum) during their seasonal breeding migrations to determine the influence of breeding behaviors on reproductive costs. We sampled salamanders entering and exiting a 0.92-ha ephemeral wetland in the North Carolina Piedmont using a 400-m drift fence completely encircling the wetland. Traps were checked daily during annual breeding migrations in mid-January to early March of 2013 and 2014. The relationship between body mass changes and explanatory factors including sex, duration of stay at wetland, and distance between site entrance and exit were examined using a set of candidate linear mixed models selected a priori and compared using Akaike's information criterion. Female sa...