Environmental factors fail to explain oviposition site use in the <scp>E</scp>uropean common frog

Grözinger, Franziska; Wertz, Adrian; Thein, Jürgen; Feldhaar, Heike; Rödel, Mark‐Oliver

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2012.00929.x

Cited by 13 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Nevertheless two-thirds of the accessible habitats were not used by R. temporaria for breeding, supporting the hypothesis that frogs selected their reproduction sites and did not use them randomly. This is similar to the study of Gro¨zinger et al (2012) in northern Bavaria that showed that only one-third of the available ponds were used for spawning. We also found that habitat use by R. temporaria is influenced even by small human-related perturbations such as grazing.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

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Aquatic habitat use by amphibians with specific reference toRana temporariaat high elevations (Retezat Mountains National Park, Romania)

Cogălniceanu

Băncilă

Plăiaşu

et al. 2012

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

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-Alpine areas are extreme habitats that require special adaptations and involve major trade-offs in terms of life history. Amphibians have the ability to adapt both their life history and developmental traits to alpine environments. Temperate amphibians depend on the quality and availability of aquatic habitats for reproduction. We explored the aquatic habitat used by amphibians in the alpine area of Retezat Mountains, Southern Carpathians, Romania. We surveyed 40 aquatic habitats in a 380 ha area delimited by mountain crests and drained by a steep valley. Each aquatic habitat was characterized using 10 environmental variables. Only three amphibian species occur at elevations above 1900 m, the most widespread being the Common Frog Rana temporaria. The Common Frog showed preference for breeding aquatic habitats, the variables of importance being altitude, solar radiation, water chemistry and grazing. Higher elevation and lower solar radiation decreased frog occurrence, while the impact of grazing favored the use of water bodies. Acidification is eminent in the area with pH dropping below 5 in 20% of the water bodies. Overall, amphibian occurrence in alpine area can be partly explained by the characteristics of aquatic habitats.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 66%

“…A similar study conducted in a forested area in northern Bavaria (Gro¨zinger et al, 2012) could not identify environmental variables to explain habitat selection. This was probably due to the higher complexity of the habitats studied, highlighting the importance and value of studies in less complex alpine habitats.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aquatic habitat use by amphibians with specific reference toRana temporariaat high elevations (Retezat Mountains National Park, Romania)

Cogălniceanu

Băncilă

Plăiaşu

et al. 2012

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

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“…For predator- and tadpole-density, mean and SD of all samplings, number of sampling events and total number of box samplings summed up for realized samplings are given (see methods for detailed description). For pond abbreviations, see [31].cl. = clutches; meas.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The investigated population exhibits a strong fidelity in oviposition site use, using particular ponds and avoiding others, which indicates a selection of breeding habitats [31]. Therefore, we assumed that adults choose an environment suitable for larval development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Giants, Dwarfs and the Environment – Metamorphic Trait Plasticity in the Common Frog

Grözinger

Thein²,

Feldhaar

et al. 2014

PLoS ONE

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In order to understand adaptation processes and population dynamics, it is central to know how environmental parameters influence performance of organisms within populations, including their phenotypes. The impact of single or few particular parameters in concert was often assessed in laboratory and mesocosm experiments. However, under natural conditions, with many biotic and abiotic factors potentially interacting, outcomes on phenotypic changes may be different. To study the potential environmental impact on realized phenotypic plasticity within a natural population, we assessed metamorphic traits (developmental time, size and body mass) in an amphibian species, the European common frog Rana temporaria, since a) larval amphibians are known to exhibit high levels of phenotypic plasticity of these traits in response to habitat parameters and, b) the traits' features may strongly influence individuals' future performance and fitness. In 2007 we studied these metamorphic traits in 18 ponds spread over an area of 28 km2. A subset of six ponds was reinvestigated in 2009 and 2010. This study revealed locally high variances in metamorphic traits in this presumed generalist species. We detected profound differences between metamorphing froglets (up to factor ten); both between and within ponds, on a very small geographic scale. Parameters such as predation and competition as well as many other pond characteristics, generally expected to have high impact on development, could not be related to the trait differences. We observed high divergence of patterns of mass at metamorphosis between ponds, but no detectable pattern when metamorphic traits were compared between ponds and years. Our results indicate that environment alone, i.e. as experienced by tadpoles sharing the same breeding pond, can only partly explain the variability of metamorphic traits observed. This emphasizes the importance to assess variability of reaction norms on the individual level to explain within-population variability.

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“…The pond locations are situated between 1-2 km from the village. The ranges of habitat characteristics are summarized by Grözinger et al (2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

Does intraspecific and intersexual attraction or avoidance influence newt abundance estimates based on fish funnel trap records?

et al. 2014

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bstract. We experimentally investigated whether intraspecific and intersexual attraction (or avoidance) by chemical signals may bias newt trapping success. We installed commercially available fish funnel traps which are often used in newt monitoring studies. We tested if capture rates differed between traps with or without newts. One experimental trap set comprised five traps, one trap being empty and four traps containing one male or female Lissotriton vulgaris or Ichthyosaura alpestris, respectively. Capture rates of newts of neither species nor sex was significantly affected by the presence of a particular newt species or sex in the traps, compared to control traps without newts. Trapping success thus seems not to be biased beyond random effects.

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Environmental factors fail to explain oviposition site use in the European common frog

Cited by 13 publications

References 62 publications

Aquatic habitat use by amphibians with specific reference toRana temporariaat high elevations (Retezat Mountains National Park, Romania)

Aquatic habitat use by amphibians with specific reference toRana temporariaat high elevations (Retezat Mountains National Park, Romania)

Giants, Dwarfs and the Environment – Metamorphic Trait Plasticity in the Common Frog

Does intraspecific and intersexual attraction or avoidance influence newt abundance estimates based on fish funnel trap records?

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