Chorus tenure of male barking treefrogs, Hyla gratiosa

Abstract

This study examined attendance by male barking treefrogs in breeding choruses. During four study seasons lasting 49-96 nights, median chorus tenure (the number of nights that a male participated in a breeding chorus) was only 2-3 nights. Males with chorus tenures of 2 nights or more were present for a median of 40-77% of the nights between their first and last night in the chorus. Both mating success (number of mates) and mating efficiency (nightly probability of obtaining a mate) were positively correlated with chorus tenure, but body size was not. Males whose condition declined less rapidly had both longer chorus tenures and higher mating efficiencies than males whose condition declined more rapidly. Males that spent intermediate amounts of time in the chorus each night had longer chorus tenures than did males that were present for either shorter or longer periods each night. Chorus tenure and mating efficiency made similar contributions to variance in male mating success based on a partitioning of the opportunity for selection on seasonal mating success. © 1994 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.