Summary
The variation in larval developmental patterns in the wood frog, Rana sylvatica, along an elevation gradient of 1,000 m was experimentally studied. Larval populations at high elevation ponds had lower growth rates, developmental rates and were larger at all stages (including metamorphic climax) than larval populations developing in low elevation ponds. There was considerable variation among ponds within each elevation in both the length of the larval period and size at metamorphic climax. Reciprocal transplant experiments and controlled laboratory experiments revealed that most of the observed variation between high and low elevation populations could be explained by the effects of temperature induction during ontogeny. Significant genetic differences in growth rates and non-genetic maternal effects on developmental rates between larvae of mountain origin and lowland origin were also demonstrated. Selection in both environments has acted to minimize the prevailing environmental effect of pond temperature on developmental rates, but has accentuated the prevailing environmental effects on larval body size. As a consequence mountain larvae were capable of completing metamorphosis sooner and at a larger size in all environments than lowland larvae.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adolph FE (1931) The size of the body and the size of the environment in the growth of tadpoles. Biol Bull 61:350–375
Atlas M (1935) The effect of temperature on development of Rana pipiens. Physiological Zoology 8:290–310
Berven KA (1977) Variation in developmental ecology and morphology of the green frog R. clamitans over an altitudinal gradient. M.S. Thesis, University of Maryland
Berven KA (1981) Mate choice in the wood frog, Rana sylvatica. Evolution 35:707–722
Berven KA (1981) The genetic basis for altitudinal variation in the wood frog, Rana sylvatica. I. An experimental analysis of life histories. Evolution (in press)
Berven KA, Gill DE, Smith-Gill SJ (1978) Countergradient selection in the green frog, Rana clamitans. Evolution 33:609–623
Bizer JR (1978) Growth rates and size at metamorphosis of high elevation populations of Ambystoma tigrinum. Oecologia (Berl) 34:175–184
Brockelman WY (1969) An analysis of density effects and predation in Bufo americanus tadpoles. Ecology 50:632–644
Calef GW (1973) Natural mortality of tadpoles in a population of Rana aurora. Ecology 54:741–758
Carey C (1978) Factors affecting body temperatures in Toads. Oecologia (Berl) 35:197–219
DeBenedictus PA (1974) Interspecific competition between tadpoles of Rana pipiens and Rana sylvatica: An experimental field study. Ecological Monographs, 44:129–151
Gromko MH, Mason FS, Smith-Gill SJ (1973) Analysis of the crowding effect in Rana pipiens tadpoles. J Exp Zool 186:63–72
Harris RN (1980) The population ecology of mole salamanders (Ambystoma) and the four-toed salamander (Hemidactylium scutatum). M.S. Thesis, University of Maryland
Herreid CF II, Kinney S (1967) Temperature and development of the wood frog, Rana sylvatica in Alaska. Ecology 48:579–590
Kaplan RH (1980) The implications of ovum size variability for offspring fitness and clutch size within several populations of salamanders (Ambystoma). Evolution 34(1):51–64
Kaplan RH, Salthe SN (1979) The allometry of reproduction: an empirical view in salamanders. Amer Natur 113:671–689
Kollros JJ (1961) Mechanisms of amphibian metamorphosis: Hormones. Am Zool 1:107–114
Licht LE (1967) Growth inhibitions in crowded tadpoles: intraspecific and interspecific effects. Ecology 48:736–745
Licht LE (1971) Breeding habits and embryonic thermal requirements of the frogs, Rana aurora and Rana pretiosa pretiosa, in the Pacific northwest. Ecology 52:116–124
Licht LE (1975) Comparative life history features of the western spotted frog, Rana pretiosa, from low- and high-elevation populations. Can J Zool 53:1254–1257
Martof B (1956) Growth and development of the green frog, Rana clamitans, under natural conditions. Amer Mid Nat 55:101–117
Miller K, Packard GC (1977) An altitudinal cline in critical thermal maxima of chorus frogs (Pseudacris triseriata). Amer Natur 111:267–277
Moore JA (1942) The role of temperature in speciation of frogs. Biol Symp 6:189–213
Pettus D, Angleton GM (1967) Comparative reproductive biology of montane and piedmont chorus frogs. Evolution 21:500–507
Prosser CL (1973) Comparative Animal Physiology. Saunders, Philadelphia
Ruibal R (1957) An altitudinal and latitudinal cline in Rana pipiens. Copeia 1957:212–221
Salthe SN, Duellman WE (1973) Quantitative constraints associated with reproductive mode in anurans. In: JV Vial (ed), Evolutionary Biology of the Anurans. University of Missouri Press. Columbia p 239–249
Sexton OJ, Bizer JR (1978) Life history patterns of Ambystoma tigrinum in montane Colorado. American Midland Naturalist 99:101–118
Smith-Gill SJ, Gill DE (1978) Curvilinearities in the competition equations: An experiment with ranid tadpoles. Amer Nat 112:557–570
Smith-Gill SJ, Berven KA (1978) Predicting amphibian metamorphosis. Amer Nat 113:563–585
Synder RC (1956) Comparative features of the life histories of Ambystoma gracile (Baird) from populations at low and high altitudes. Copeia 1956:41–50
Steinwasher KF (1978) Interference and exploitation competition among tadpoles of Rana utricularia. Ecology 59:1039–1046
Taylor AC, Kollros JJ (1946) Stages in the normal development of Rana pipiens larvae. Anat Rec 94:7–24
Travis J (1980) Phenotypic variation and the outcome of interspecific competition in hylid tadpoles. Evolution 34:40–50
Viparina S, Just JJ (1975) The life period, growth and differentiation of Rana catesbeiana larvae occurring in nature. Copeia 1975:103–109
Volpe EP (1957) Embryonic temperature adaptations in highland R. pipiens. Amer Nat 4:303–309
Wigglesworth VB (1972) The Principles of Insect Physiology. Methuen and Co., LTD, London p 544
Wilbur HM (1976) Density-dependent aspects of metamorphosis in Ambystoma and Rana sylvatica. Ecology 57:1289–1296
Wilbur HM (1977a) Density-dependent aspects of growth and metamorphosis in Bufo americanus. Ecology 58(1):196–200
Wilbur HM (1977b) Interactions of food level and population density in Rana sylvatica. Ecology 58:206–209
Wilbur HM (1980) Complex life cycles. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 11:67–93
Wilbur HM, Collins JP (1973) Ecological aspects of amphibian metamorphosis. Science 182:1305–1314
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Berven, K.A. The genetic basis of altitudinal variation in the wood frog Rana sylvatica II. An experimental analysis of larval development. Oecologia 52, 360–369 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00367960
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00367960