Abstract
Parents can influence offspring dispersal through breeding site selection, competition, or by directly moving their offspring during parental care. Many animals move their young, but the potential role of this behavior in dispersal has rarely been investigated. Neotropical poison frogs (Dendrobatidae) are well known for shuttling their tadpoles from land to water, but the associated movements have rarely been quantified and the potential function of tadpole transport in dispersal has not been addressed. We used miniature radio-transmitters to track the movements of two poison frog species during tadpole transport, and surveyed pool availability in the study area. We found that parental males move farther than expected by the distance to the nearest pool and spread their offspring across multiple pools. We argue that these movement patterns cannot be fully explained by pool quality and availability, and suggest that adaptive benefits related to offspring dispersal also shape the spatial behavior of parental frogs.
Highlights
The local physical and social environment can have a strong influence on animal dispersal
We suggest that patterns of pool availability and quality cannot fully explain the observed movement patterns
We propose that adaptive benefits related to offspring dispersal could shape the spatial behavior of parental poison frogs
Summary
The local physical and social environment can have a strong influence on animal dispersal (i.e., context-dependent dispersal, Bowler and Benton 2005; Matthysen 2012). Dispersing individuals may integrate the environmental factors experienced at the present and learned in the past (informed dispersal sensu Clobert et al 2009), resulting in complex movement strategies. Can influence subsequent offspring dispersal by evaluating and choosing breeding sites and by directly moving offspring during parental care (Bonte et al 2007; Matthysen et al 2010; Clobert et al 2012). Female wolf spiders show greater mobility while carrying spiderlings, influencing offspring natal dispersal patterns and potentially reducing kin competition (Bonte et al 2007). Offspring transport may promote adaptive movement strategies that favor offspring dispersal. While factors such as habitat selection, inbreeding avoidance, and kin-competition are at the core of dispersal theory, the role of parental mobility in offspring dispersal has received little attention so far
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