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Spatial variation in abiotic and biotic factors in a floodplain determine anuran body size and growth rate at metamorphosis

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Abstract

Body size at metamorphosis is a critical trait in the life history of amphibians. Despite the wide-spread use of amphibians as experimental model organisms, there is a limited understanding of how multiple abiotic and biotic factors affect the variation in metamorphic traits under natural conditions. The aim of our study was to quantify the effects of abiotic and biotic factors on spatial variation in the body size of tadpoles and size at metamorphosis of the European common toad (Bufo b. spinosus). Our study population was distributed over the riverbed (active tract) and the fringing riparian forest of a natural floodplain. The riverbed had warm ponds with variable hydroperiod and few predators, whereas the forest had ponds with the opposite characteristics. Spatial variation in body size at metamorphosis was governed by the interactive effects of abiotic and biotic factors. The particular form of the interaction between water temperature and intraspecific tadpole density suggests that abiotic factors laid the foundation for biotic factors: intraspecific density decreased growth only at high temperature. Predation and intraspecific density jointly reduced metamorphic size. Interspecific density had a negligible affect on body size at metamorphosis, suggesting weak inter-anuran interactions in the larval stage. Population density at metamorphosis was about one to two orders of magnitudes higher in the riverbed ponds than in the forest ponds, mainly because of lower tadpole mortality. Based on our results, we conclude that ponds in the riverbed appear to play a pivotal role for the population because tadpole growth and survival is best in this habitat.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Simone Blaser, Pascal Meuwly and Ursina von Planta for field data collection. The comments of Ross Alford, two anonymous referees and Sandra Hangartner improved the manuscript, as did the editing by Christopher Robinson and Sarah Poynton. All methods applied conform to the ethical and animal care guidelines issued by national (Ministerio dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio, Direzione per la Protezione della Natura, Roma) and regional (Direzione Centrale Risorse Agricole, Forestali e Naturali, Regione Friuli Venezia Giulia, Udine) authorities in Italy that kindly provided permits. The project was funded by the MAVA Foundation (Switzerland).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Aquatic Ecology, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (EAWAG), Überlandstrasse 133, 8600, Dübendorf, Switzerland

    Lukas Indermaur

  2. Institute of Integrative Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland

    Lukas Indermaur

  3. Institut für Evolutionsbiologie und Umweltwissenschaften, Universität Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    Benedikt R. Schmidt

  4. KARCH, Passage Maximilien-de-Meuron 6, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

    Benedikt R. Schmidt

  5. Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Klement Tockner

  6. Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Mueggelseedamm 310, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Klement Tockner

  7. Swiss Ornithological Institute, 6203, Sempach, Switzerland

    Michael Schaub

  8. Institute of Ecology and Evolution–Conservation Biology, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, 3012, Bern, Switzerland

    Michael Schaub

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  1. Lukas Indermaur
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Correspondence to Lukas Indermaur.

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Communicated by Ross Alford.

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Indermaur, L., Schmidt, B.R., Tockner, K. et al. Spatial variation in abiotic and biotic factors in a floodplain determine anuran body size and growth rate at metamorphosis. Oecologia 163, 637–649 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1586-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-010-1586-4

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