Meeting Abstract
Early life stages are often the most vulnerable, and parental decisions about where to deposit offspring are important determinants of offspring survival. This is particularly true of phytotelm breeding frogs, which deposit eggs and tadpoles in small pools of water in leaf axils. Eggs and tadpoles cannot move to different pools and are thus confined to the placement chosen by their parents. Predators and potential competitors seem to influence parental decisions, but the effect of abiotic characteristics of water quality on pool choice is unclear. We studied the golden rocket frog (Anomaloglossus beebei), a phytotelm breeder with parental care—which most notably exhibit the transportation of tadpoles from one pool of water to another. A. beebei live in giant tank bromeliads (Brocchinia micrantha), a species with leaf axils that retain water in large, stable phytotelmata. We analyzed water quality characteristics of over 100 bromeliad pools and examined how these conditions relate to the presence or absence of A.beebei tadpoles. We measured dissolved oxygen levels, turbidity, algae levels, photosynthetically active radiation, temperature, water volume, and leaf position. Tadpoles were not distributed randomly with respect to these variables. In particular, we found a positive relationship between dissolved oxygen level and tadpole presence; oxygen levels in pools containing tadpoles were never below 4 mg/L. While it is not clear if these characteristics directly affect pool choice, the non-random distribution of tadpoles suggests that adults prefer some pools over others for tadpole deposition. Furthermore, our study provides insight into the characteristics of important reproductive resources for this vulnerable species.
