The Effect of Grazing by Tadpoles on the Structure of a Periphyton Community

Dickman, Mike

doi:10.2307/1934511

Cited by 139 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…Because the food items were not identified to species, there is the possibility that the larvae could be feeding on entirely different species within broad categories. The evidence gathered on scraping and chewing larvae that are indiscriminate feeders (Dickman, 1968 andFarlowe, 1928), suggests that the larval species in this study are basically ingesting the same foods. Intuitively, it would seem that beakless larvae, by the nature of their feeding mechanism could discriminate particle size, but not composition.…”

Section: Hea(j-bo(dy Length Numbers In Parentheses Indicate Reduced mentioning

confidence: 64%

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Ecological Interactions of Frog Larvae at a Seasonal Tropical Location in Thailand

Heyer¹

1973

Journal of Herpetology

115

108

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ABSTRACT•Jo determine the adaptive strategies frogs utilize to exploit tropical seasonal environments, a 10 month study of tadpole ecological interactions was undertaken at the Sakaerat Experiment Station, located approximately 250 km ME of Bangkok.The temporal distribution patterns of larval species occurrence for several ponds show the following: 1) all the species have seasonal reproductive cycles, which are correlated with the unavailability of aquatic habitats during the dry season; 2) the greatest number of species using ponds as larvae correlates with the first time that the aquatic habitats retain water long enough for the larvae to complete metamorphosis; 3) patterns of larval species occurrence in response to the same environmental stimuli are varied; and 4) the occurrence of larval species in any single pond seems due to chance.Food analyses and behavioral observations are compared with niche analyses of overlap based on larval species abundances. Food differences do not add any information to that obtained from occurrence patterns in characterizing larval niches.The frog fauna at Sakaerat divides the total environment spatially and temporally at several levels. The most distinctive partitioning of the environment occurs between the wet (14 species) and dry (3 species) season breeders. The rainy season breeders subdivide the available aquatic environment by: 1) utilizing different ponds within the total environment, 2) occupying a single pond at different times, and 3) dividing up the living space within a pond spatially, rather than by selecting different food categories.All species for which data were gathered have short larval life periods which correlate with the uncertain aquatic habitat due to sporadic rainfall.All of the ponds had a much greater larval biomass at an early time rather than at a later time. Perhaps by having a period of larval activity at the beginning of the wet season, newly metamorphosed frogs are assured of a favorable period of growth before having to survive the dry season. Alternatively, the period of heavy larval usage may occur at the beginning of the pond cycle to avoid heavy prédation.The single physical factor of rainfall distribution regulates anuran reproductive patterns in tropical areas characterized by a pronounced dry season. The more northerly the environment, the greater the number of physical factors which control the anuran reproductive patterns.

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Section: Hea(j-bo(dy Length Numbers In Parentheses Indicate Reduced mentioning

confidence: 64%

“…In fact, Farlowe (1928) found that examining the algal contents in tadpole guts was a superior method of determining the species composition of pond algae than were her collecting methods. Dickman (1968) found that larvae of Rana aurora strongly reduced the FIGURE 6. Comparative larval gut lengths.…”

Section: Gut Contentsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Ecological Interactions of Frog Larvae at a Seasonal Tropical Location in Thailand

Heyer¹

1973

Journal of Herpetology

115

108

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“…Although it is possible that L. catesbeianus tadpoles accumulate natural dietary sources of toxins, our methodology of maintaining tadpoles in the laboratory for a 1-mo period and feeding them a laboratory diet decreases the likelihood of tadpoles expressing toxins that were accumulated from natural dietary sources. Further, for tadpoles to accumulate toxins through their diet would require tadpoles to be selective foragers, which seems unlikely because tadpoles have been reported to be largely indiscriminate foragers (Dickman, 1968).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toad Tadpole Responses to Predator Risk: Ontogenetic Change between Constitutive and Inducible Defenses

Jara¹,

Perotti²

2009

Journal of Herpetology

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“…Dickman (1968) found that tadpole grazing reduced the diversity of periphyton and thus caused the community to approach a much lower level of maturity" Significant effects of terrestrial grazers on species composition were reported by Tomanek and Albertson (1953) and Hazell (1967)v but diversity indices were not calculated.…”

Section: Algae Present and Physical Appearancementioning

confidence: 98%

“…In the present study 5000 cm 2 were subjected to 5.2 g of small Phisa. Dickman (1968) ~w r : r n , · reported significant reduction in periphyton standing crop caused by tadpole grazing in a shallow pond.…”

Section: Algae Present and Physical Appearancementioning

confidence: 99%

The Effects of Grazing by Snails on Community Structure of Periphyton in Laboratory Streams

Kehde¹,

Wilhm²

1972

American Midland Naturalist

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The Effect of Grazing by Tadpoles on the Structure of a Periphyton Community

Cited by 139 publications

References 2 publications

Ecological Interactions of Frog Larvae at a Seasonal Tropical Location in Thailand

Ecological Interactions of Frog Larvae at a Seasonal Tropical Location in Thailand

Toad Tadpole Responses to Predator Risk: Ontogenetic Change between Constitutive and Inducible Defenses

The Effects of Grazing by Snails on Community Structure of Periphyton in Laboratory Streams

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