Acclimation to constant and variable temperatures in plethodontid salamanders--I. Rates of oxygen consumption.

In preliminary experiments, salamanders of three species (Desmognathus ochrophaeus, Plethodon cinereus and Plethodon jordani) required 5-11 days to complete metabolic acclimation to a constant warm temperature; the rate of oxygen consumption (VO2) decreased 16-28% during acclimation. Unfed animals of each species underwent cyclic exposure to 5 and 21 degrees C at three different cycle periods (12 hr, 4-5 days, 51 days), or constant exposure to 14 degrees C for 102 days. The experimental treatments significantly affected the VO2 measured at 5, 14, 17.5 and 21 degrees C. The direction and magnitude of the acclimatory effects upon VO2 were inconsistent among species and among experimental temperatures, and resulted in little energy saving. The VO2 during exposure to cyclic temperatures averaged only 83% of that during preliminary experiments, perhaps as a response to starvation.