Data from: Salamander climbing behavior varies among species and is correlated with community composition.

Species coexistence is often facilitated by behavioral strategies that minimize competition for limited resources. Terrestrial, lungless salamanders (genus Plethodon) coexist in predictable assemblages of body size guilds, but little is known about the behavioral mechanisms that promote such coexistence. Here, we considered the hypothesis that Plethodon salamanders use climbing behavior to reduce competitive interactions, thereby promoting coexistence through spatial partitioning. To explore this hypothesis, we quantified the frequency of climbing behavior at field sites where small-bodied (P. cinereus) and large-bodied (P. glutinosus) species are always present, but an intermediate-bodied species (P. montanus) is either absent, introduced, or native. We observed that climbing behavior varied among size guilds so that the smallest species climbed most frequently, followed by the intermediate, and then the large species. Further, we identified several correlates of climbing behavior that may be shaped by intraspecific and interspecific competition. Climbing frequency was positively correlated with intraspecific competition and negatively correlated with interspecific competition in the small species, unrelated to competition in the intermediate species, and positively correlated with interspecific competition in the large species. Our results suggest that Plethodon size guilds might differentially utilize climbing behavior to facilitate spatial partitioning in dense populations and communities. Further, we show how competition intensity can shape the behavior of cohabitating species, and ultimately provide insight into how behavioral plasticity and microhabitat partitioning can promote species coexistence.物种共存往往依托于可最小化有限资源竞争的行为策略得以实现。陆生无肺蝾螈（Plethodon属）以可预测的体型类群组合方式共存，但学界对促成此类共存的行为机制仍知之甚少。 本研究提出假说：Plethodon属蝾螈可通过攀爬行为削弱竞争互动，进而通过空间分区促进物种共存。 为验证该假说，我们在同时存在小型（P. cinereus）与大型（P. glutinosus）蝾螈，而中型物种（P. montanus）或缺失、或被引入、或为原生分布的野外样地中，量化了攀爬行为的发生频率。 研究观察到，不同体型类群的攀爬行为频率存在显著差异：体型最小的物种攀爬频率最高，中型物种次之，大型物种最低。 进一步，我们识别出若干可能受种内与种间竞争塑造的攀爬行为关联因子。在小型物种中，攀爬频率与种内竞争呈正相关，与种间竞争呈负相关；中型物种的攀爬频率与竞争强度无显著关联；而大型物种的攀爬频率则与种间竞争呈正相关。 本研究结果表明，Plethodon属蝾螈的体型类群可差异化利用攀爬行为，以在高密度种群与群落中促成空间分区。此外，本研究揭示了竞争强度如何塑造共存物种的行为特征，并最终为理解行为可塑性与微生境分区如何促进物种共存提供了科学视角。