Document Type

Paper- Restricted to Campus Access

Publication Date

4-29-2026

Faculty Mentor

Cory Straub

Abstract

Eastern Red-Backed Salamanders come in two color polymorphs: striped and unstriped. This study is looking to determine difference in behavior between these two morphs. We performed both field and lab experiments to test the striped and unstriped morphs’ responses to moisture and tolerance of dry conditions. For the field experiments we placed artificial cover objects (ACOs) in 23 evenly spaced transects in a wooded area of the campus. Each transect contained 8 ACOs, 2 with rain guards (PVC pipe frames with a plastic sheet across the top), 1 with a sham (PVC frame only), and 5 controls. We recorded soil temperature and moisture under each treatment and whether a salamander was present. We found that both morphs were equally as likely to inhabit the control and sham ACOs, but that the striped morph was more likely to inhabit the rain guarded ACOs. Because of these results, we wanted to experiment with the two morphs’ responses to moisture and preference of environment further. We conducted a lab experiment in which we collected salamanders from a separate area of the forest in the fall. We then identified 20 pairs of salamanders of the same sex and SVL but opposite morph type to use in trials. During trials we placed each salamander in a petri dish with either dry or wet filter paper. We left the salamanders to acclimate to the dish for 1 hour in a dark room with only red light. After 1 hour, we lifted the lids of the petri dishes and recorded the time it took for each salamander to leave the petri dish. Preliminary results show a difference in latency to leave in both morphs with a 50% decrease in leave time from wet to dry for the unstriped morph and a 32% decrease for the striped morph. We are currently still collecting data from this assay to further verify these results.

Comments

Presented as part of the Ursinus College Celebration of Student Achievement (CoSA) held April 29, 2026.

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