Abstract
Many species of Neotropical frogs have evolved to deposit their tadpoles in small water bodies inside plant structures called phytotelmata. These pools are small enough to exclude large predators but have limited nutrients and high desiccation risk. Here, we explore phytotelm use by three common Neotropical species: Osteocephalus oophagus, an arboreal frog that periodically feeds eggs to its tadpoles; Dendrobates tinctorius, a tadpole‐transporting poison frog with cannibalistic tadpoles; and Allobates femoralis, a terrestrial tadpole‐transporting poison frog with omnivorous tadpoles. We found that D. tinctorius occupies pools across the chemical and vertical gradient, whereas A. femoralis and O. oophagus appear to have narrower deposition options that are restricted primarily by pool height, water capacity, alkalinity, and salinity. Dendrobates tinctorius tadpoles are particularly flexible and can survive in a wide range of chemical, physical, and biological conditions, whereas O. oophagus seems to prefer small, clear pools and A. femoralis occupies medium‐sized pools with abundant leaf litter and low salinity. Together, these results show the possible niche partitioning of phytotelmata among frogs and provide insight into stressors and resilience of phytotelm breeders.
Highlights
The survival of young often hinges on the quality of the rearing environments created or chosen by their parents
We found clear trends: O. oophagus tadpoles are heavily biased toward small, clear pools and A. femoralis is present in medium and large pools with large amounts of leaf litter, whereas D. tinctorius occurs throughout the sampled range (Figure 4)
We found that A. femoralis and O. oophagus tadpoles occur in higher numbers in pools compared to D. tinctorius tadpoles, though a large range of tadpole densities was found for all species (A. femoralis: 1–51 tadpoles, O. oophagus: 1–50 tadpoles, D. tinctorius: 1–43 tadpoles)
Summary
The survival of young often hinges on the quality of the rearing environments created or chosen by their parents. For animals with external fertilization, breeding site choice can be especially important, as optimal conditions for egg clutches may differ from the optimal environment for hatchlings and adults (fish: Ottesen & Bolla, 1998, Mikheev et al, 2001; salamanders: Nussbaum, 1987, Sih & Moore, 1993; frogs: Vági et al, 2019) Many of these animals assess and prefer biotic and abiotic properties of breeding sites that can enhance offspring survival (Brown & Shine, 2005; Marsh & Borrell, 2001; Mokany & Shine, 2003; Touchon & Worley, 2015). We investigate the chemical and physical properties of aquatic nurseries that predict the presence of Neotropical tadpoles in phytotelm-breeding frogs
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