Meeting Abstract
Parents have evolved a variety of strategies to minimize risks to their offspring, choosing rearing sites based on different abiotic and biotic factors, which affect offspring survival. Because availability and quality of these sites are variable, parents may have to choose between low-quality rearing sites or extended search time. In frog species with larval transport, parents are known to select bodies of water that are free of predators, or intra and/or interspecific competitors. We experimentally tested if abiotic factors and/or the presence of predators and conspecifics affect tadpole deposition behavior in a population of the Smooth Guardian frog of Borneo Limnonectes palavanensis. This species lays its eggs on land and guards them until they hatch; tadpoles are then transported on the male’s back to small pools of water on the forest floor. We estimated the abundance of natural tadpole rearing sites and conducted experiments in the field using artificial pools to test if abiotic characteristics of these pools affect the probability of larval deposition. We also experimentally tested whether males of L. palavanensis avoid pools with conspecific tadpoles or predators. The abundance of natural deposition sites was low, and males readily used artificial pools for tadpole deposition. Males were less likely to deposit tadpoles in areas were pool permanency was compromised. Males did not avoid depositing tadpoles in pools with conspecifics or with predators. Interestingly, males exhibited clutch-partitioning behavior, dividing tadpoles between adjacent pools. Pool availability, rather than the presence of potential competitors or predators may be the main factor affecting parental decisions in this species.
