Behavioral interactions with native species may influence the invasiveness
of introduced species. The salamanders Plethodon glutinosus and P. jordani
in the eastern United States share many life history traits and demonstrate
complex interspecific interactions that range geographically from competit
ive exclusion to sympatry. P. jordani was introduced to Mountain Lake Biolo
gical Station, Virginia, USA, between the years 1935 and 1945. We tested wh
ether competition for space may influence the invasion of P. jordani into n
ative P. glutinosus habitat by utilizing data from natural distributions, a
field experiment, and controlled laboratory experiments. No environmental
variables differed where P. glutinosus and P. jordani were collected in the
field at the site of P. jordani introduction. In the field experiment, P.
glutinosus was more fully exposed during foraging bouts in cages shared wit
h heterospecifics as opposed to ones shared with conspecific salamanders. C
ondition (mass relative to body length) of salamanders at the end of the 3
months did not differ between conspecific and heterospecific treatments, Tn
the laboratory, P. glutinosus most often attained the single burrow in the
arena, but residency status had no effect, Species cohabited the burrow 50
% of the time. Pair-wise encounters in the laboratory indicated that both s
pecies spend less than 20%, of the time in aggressive behaviors as juvenile
s. Adults showed no behavior interpreted by us as aggression during pair-wi
se encounters.