Abstract
We studied movement and site fidelity of males and females of the territorial frog Allobates femoralis (Aromobatidae) in a population in the Nature Reserve “Les Nouragues” in French Guiana, South America. Observations during 3 months in 2006 ascertained intra-seasonal site fidelity for males and females. Males actively defend large multi-purpose territories whereas females retreat to small resting sites from where they commute to neighbouring males for courtship and mating. Female short-term movement corroborates the previous assumption of a polygynous or promiscuous resource-defence mating system. Year-to-year recaptures from 2005 until 2008 revealed distinct patterns of inter-annual movement for males and regional site fidelity for females. Males abandon their territories and have to re-negotiate them when reproduction starts again at the end of the dry season. Females are not subject to intra- or inter-sexual territorial competition and as a result move significantly less between reproductive seasons than males. Male long-term movement reflects spatial structure and prevailing social interactions and is a reliable indicator for tadpole deposition sites. The combined effects of intra- and inter-seasonal movement promote the diversity of mates for both sexes.
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Acknowledgements
We want to dedicate this work to Domingo Ribamar da Silva and Andoe Saaki “Capi” who were murdered in the camp Arataï 2 weeks after we left in 2006 (Butler 2006). Fieldwork in 2006 was funded by the University of Vienna (“Kurzfristige wissenschaftliche Arbeiten im Ausland” and “Förderstipendium”) and the Lower Austrian State Academy (“Top-Stipendium”). Fieldwork in 2005, 2007 and 2008 was supported through Austrian Science Fund grants FWF-15345 and FWF-18811 (PI Walter Hödl). We are grateful for field assistance by Julia Felling, Philippe Gaucher, Gilles Peroz and Birgit Samhaber. Permissions and logistic help in French Guiana were provided by the CNRS and the “Association Arataï”, notably Pierre Charles-Dominique, Philippe Gaucher, Muriel Nugent, Helene Richard and Alexis Domput. Fieldwork was conducted in compliance with current French and EU law.
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Ringler, M., Ursprung, E. & Hödl, W. Site fidelity and patterns of short- and long-term movement in the brilliant-thighed poison frog Allobates femoralis (Aromobatidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63, 1281–1293 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0793-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0793-7