Effects of Changing Density and Food Level on Metamorphosis of a Desert Amphibian, Scaphiopus Couchii

Simple item page
dc.contributorVirginia Techen
dc.contributor.authorNewman, R. A.en
dc.contributor.departmentBiological Sciencesen
dc.date.accessed2014-01-08en
dc.date.accessioned2014-01-10T20:07:56Zen
dc.date.available2014-01-10T20:07:56Zen
dc.date.issued1994-06en
dc.description.abstractAmphibians that breed in temporary ponds provide a good opportunity to study the ecological and evolutionary consequences of environmental variability. Ephemeral aquatic habitats provide larval amphibians a transient and highly variable opportunity for growth. In the desert ponds used by Couch's spadefoot toad (Scaphiopus couchii), tadpole density varies considerably among ponds and often increases within a pond as it dries. Models of optimal size and timing of metamorphosis predict that, relative to constant high resource environments, metamorphosis should occur at a smaller size in constant low resource environments, and smaller and earlier in declining resource environments, assuming all else is equal. Considerable evidence supports the first prediction, but few studies have examined the effect of decreasing resource availability. I conducted an experiment to examine the effects of increasing density and decreasing food level on metamorphosis in Couch's spadefoot toads. Tadpoles at constant high per capita food metamorphosed at the largest sizes. At low or decreasing per capita food, tadpoles metamorphosed at a uniformly small size, but varied in the time required to reach that size. Tadpoles from both increasing density and decreasing food treatments metamorphosed earlier than tadpoles from constant density, constant food treatments. These results support the idea that tadpoles can respond adaptively to resource variation.en
dc.identifier.citationRobert A. Newman 1994. Effects of Changing Density and Food Level on Metamorphosis of a Desert Amphibian, Scaphiopus Couchii. Ecology. 75:1085-1096. 10.2307/1939432en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.2307/1939432en
dc.identifier.issn0012-9658en
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10919/24803en
dc.identifier.urlhttp://www.jstor.org/stable/1939432 .en
dc.language.isoen_USen
dc.publisherEcological Society of Americaen
dc.rightsIn Copyrighten
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/en
dc.subjectamphibianen
dc.subjectcouchs spadefoot toaden
dc.subjectchihuahuan deserten
dc.subjectdensityen
dc.subjectdevelopmenten
dc.subjectenvironmental variationen
dc.subjectfood levelen
dc.subjectgrowthen
dc.subjectmetamorphosisen
dc.subjectphenotypic plasticityen
dc.subjecttadpoleen
dc.subjectfrog rana-sylvaticaen
dc.subjectcomplex life-cyclesen
dc.subjectphenotypic plasticityen
dc.subjectambystoma-talpoideumen
dc.subjectpopulation variationen
dc.subjectadaptive plasticityen
dc.subjectlarvalen
dc.subjectdevelopmenten
dc.subjectdependent aspectsen
dc.subjecttime constraintsen
dc.subjectbufo-americanusen
dc.subjectEnvironmental Sciences & Ecologyen
dc.titleEffects of Changing Density and Food Level on Metamorphosis of a Desert Amphibian, Scaphiopus Couchiien
dc.title.serialEcologyen
dc.typeArticle - Refereeden

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
1939432.pdf
Size:
433.98 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Main article
Download

Collections

Scholarly Works, Biological Sciences