Survival of Amazonian Tadpoles Under Harsh Water-Limiting Conditions

Abstract

Abstract. Tadpoles of some anuran species are known to survive out of water, but information is scarce or nonexistent for most species. We experimentally tested the survival ability of Amazonian tadpoles of six species out of water in conditions that simulated pond drying. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that tadpoles typical of habitats subject to fast drying would have higher capacity to survive without free water. We found higher survival rates for some species that usually occur in temporary ponds and the lowest one for a species from perennial ponds. However, we also found species from temporary ponds and streams with intermediate tolerance to desiccation. Tadpole survival differed among species and increased in function of body mass but was not related to the probability of each species being subject to periods without water in their habitats. Therefore, we reject the hypothesis that tadpole survival in the absence of water is a simple function of the probability of ponds drying.