YIBS 1997-1998 Annual Report

III. GAYLORD DONNELLEY ENVIRONMENTAL FELLOWSHIP

1997 -1999 Gaylord Donnelley Environmental Fellow
Joseph Kiesecker, Ph.D

 

Activities

- Collaborated with several scientists including both graduate students and faculty.

 

- Examined the effects of pathogenic infection on behavioral interactions.

 

- Investigated how infection with pathogens may influence social interactions between larval amphibians, which resulted in his laboratory experiments demonstrating how tadpoles avoid associating with conspecifics infected with intestinal pathogens. This is one of the first demonstrations that animals can recognize and use behavior to avoid pathogenic infection and these results will have important ramifications for the understanding of disease transmission.

 

- Learned techniques that will enable him to identify, isolate and manipulate pathogens in field experiments to be conducted in the spring of 1998.

 

- Has written and submitted results of research conducted during his Ph.D. studies.

 

- Submitted five manuscripts, two of which have been accepted for publication.

- Guest lecturer in the Conservation Biology course at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

 

- Instructor at the Society for Conservation Biology's Weekend Methods Retreat at the Great Mountain Field Station.

 

- Attended talks and seminars presented by Yale's School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and the Department of Biology.

 

- Presented results of research at the University of Connecticut, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, in November 1997.

 

- Presented results of research at the University of Maine, Department of Biological Sciences, in December 1997.

 

- Attended seminar at the University of Colorado, Department of Biology, in March 1998.

 

- Attended seminar at Hardwick College, Department of Biology, in May 1998.

 

- Presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science 150th Anniversary Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. Development in a Volatile World: How Embryos Cope With Environmental Stress; Amphibian embryo mortality: The consequences of exposure to ambient ultraviolet radiation.

 

- Presented at the Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting, Sydney, Australia. Amphibian Declines: The Role of Environmental Stress and Disease.

 

Manuscripts in press or recently submitted

 

Blaustein, A.R., Kiesecker, J.M., Chivers, D.P. and R.G. Anthony. Ambient UV-B radiation causes deformities in amphibian embryos. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. 94:13735-137-37.

 

Chivers, D. P., Kiesecker, J.M., Wildy, E. T., Kats, L. and A.R. Blaustein. Avoidance response of juvenile anurans to cues of injured conspecifics and predators. Journal of Herpetology. In Press.

 

Kiesecker, J.M. and A. R. Blaustein. Pathogen reverses competition between larval amphibians. Submitted to Ecology. 29 pages.

 

Kiesecker, J.M., Chivers, D.P., Marco, A., and A.R. Blaustein. Identification of a non-damage alarm pheromone in larval red-legged frogs (Rana aurora). Submitted to Animal Behaviour. 31 pages.

 

Blaustein, A.R., Kiesecker, J.M., Belden, L. K. and D.H. Olson. Amphibian breeding and climate. Submitted to Conservation Biology. 7 pages.

 

Wildy, E.L., Chivers, D.P., Kiesecker, J. M. and A.R. Blaustein. 1998. The effects of intraspecific predation on growth in larval long-toed salamanders, Ambystoma macrodactylum. Journal of Herpetology. 32:286-289.

 

Kiesecker, J. M. and A.R. Blaustein. 1998. Effects of introduced bullfrogs and smallmouth bass on the microhabitat use, growth and survival of native red-legged frogs. Conservation Biology. 12:776-787.

 

Devito, J., Chivers, D.P., Kiesecker, J.M., Marco, A., Wildy, E.L. and Blaustein, A.R. 1998. The effects of snake predation on metamorphosis of western toads, Bufo boreas (Amphibia, Bufonidae). Ethology, 104:185-193.

 

Marco, A., Kiesecker, J.M., Chivers, D.P., and Blaustein, A.R. 1998. Sex recognition and mate choice by male western toads (Bufo boreas). Animal Behaviour, 55:1631-1635.

 

Blaustein, A.R. Hoffman, P., Hayes, J.B., Chivers, D.P., Kiesecker, J.M., et al. The influence of ambient UV-B on embryos of the spotted frog (Rana pretiosa) across an elevation gradient. Ecological Applications. In Press.

 

Kiesecker, J.M., Chivers, D. P., Marco, A., Quilchano, C., Anderson, M.T. and A.R. Blaustein. Identification of a disturbance signal in larval and red-legged frogs (Rana aurora). In Review for Animal Behavior. 25 pages.

 

Blaustein, A.R., Kiesecker, J.M., Belden, L.K. and D.H. Olson. Amphibian Breeding and Climate. In Review for Conservation Biology. 9 pages.

 

Devito, J., Chivers, D.P., Kiesecker, J.M., Belden, L.K. and A.R. Blaustein. Effects of snake predation on aggregation and metamorphosis of pacific tree frogs (Hyla regilla) larvae. In Review for Copeia. 21 pages.

 

Kiesecker, J.M., Skelly, D. K., Beard, K. and E. Pressier. Behavioral Reduction of Infection Risk. In Review for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 18 pages.

 

Plan for Future Activities

 

Research

 

- Follow up on work involving behavioral resistance to pathogenic infection.

 

- Examine the role that disease plays in structuring communities.

 

- Construct artificial larval amphibian communities and manipulate the presence of snail borne trematode pathogens.

 

- Examine how trematode infection can affect performance of amphibian larvae and the conditions that result in trematode outbreaks with a goal to understand how environmental change can influence disease outbreaks and ultimately community structure.

 

- Work closely with Dr. David Skelly examining the role of food resource gradients and the ecology of larval amphibian communities