Habitat choice of the salamander Chioglossa lusitanica: the effects of eucalypt plantations

Abstract

AbstractEvidence is presented that golden-striped salamander Chioglossa lusitanica populations in eucalypt plantations may be subject to two influences. There is a low density of leaf litter invertebrates which are the preferred prey. Substrate choice experiments show that that the salamanders avoid eucalypt leaves as substrates for shelter. A long-term study of Chioglossa populations at two brooks in northern Portugal, however, showed that the numbers at one site did not change notably after plantation with eucalypts in comparison with the other, less altered, locality. Chioglossa is the most abundant amphibian species along water courses in the Spanish province of La Coruña, although eucalypts are planted along most of them.