Light conditions and food level affect the antipredator behavior in larvae of Salamandra salamandra - Romania

We studied the effect of long-term exposure to two food (low versus high level) and two light treatments (0 hours of light versus 8 hours of light) on the anti-predator response of the fire salamander (Salamandra salamandra) larvae in two risk scenarios (no risk, i.e., in the absence of a predator, and risk, i.e., in the presence of the predator). Specifically we tested whether the probability of emerging from the refuge and the total distance moved of salamander larvae exposed for two months to controlled food and light conditions differ significantly between risk scenarios and among treatments. We found that both risk and interaction of food and light conditions affected the probability of refuge emergence but not the total distance moved. Our findings suggested that the anti-predator response is a complex behavior and that it is determined by both the immediate predation risk and past variation of environmental conditions.