Stress and diet influence levels of aggression by salamanders

What is it about?

Stress (handling) and diet quality influenced aggression by larval salamanders in complex ways. Aggression was influenced by both the salamander's own condition and that of its opponent. Larvae on high-quality diets exhibited relatively high levels of biting, but this effect decreased under handling stress.

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Why is it important?

Because the population density of larval ringed salamanders can be high, competition for food can be intense during the larval stages. Understanding how stress influences aggressive competition is particularly important as human-caused stressors become more frequent and intense, particularly for species such as ringed salamanders that are of conservation concern.