Interactions between tadpoles of Green and Golden Bell FrogLitoria aureaand Striped Marsh FrogLimnodynastes peronii

Abstract

Abstract: Experiments with tadpoles have been used to distinguish between intra- and inter-specific interactions and between interactions that arise through direct physical contact or indirectly through water-born movement of chemicals or micro-organisms. In the case of two Australian frog species, the Green and Golden Bell Frog Litoria aurea and the Striped Marsh Frog Limnodynastes peronii, it has been suspected that there are negative chemical interactions between the tadpoles of these two species, and that management of the former species, which is considered ‘threatened’ with extinction, may have to consider such interactions. We therefore sought to evaluate the nature of any interactions between tadpoles of these two species using three experimental treatments in which each tadpole species occurred on its own (i.e., “separate”), in the same water as the other species but separated by a mesh partition (i.e., “adjacent”), and intermingling together in the same water (i.e., “mixed”). We minimized any ef...