Distribution and abundance of amphibian larvae within two temporary ponds in Central ohio, usa

Abstract

We investigated the distributions of amphibian larvae within two temporary ponds in central Ohio. Spring Peeper Pond had higher densities of all taxa than did Taylor-Ochs Pond. All amphibian larval distributions were significantly aggregated on all sampling dates in both ponds. Larval abundances changed over time in Spring Peeper Pond, but not in Taylor-Ochs Pond. In Spring Peeper Pond, spring peeper tadpole densities were highest in the shallows, leopard frog tadpole densities were negatively related to temperature, and American toad tadpole densities were not related to any factor. Larval densities were not correlated with any environmental factor in Taylor-Ochs Pond. In both ponds, spring peeper and American toad tadpole densities were positively correlated for some dates and for the overall pooled dataset. Salamander larvae and spring peeper tadpole abundances were positively correlated on one date in Taylor-Ochs Pond. Our study points out that the factors that can explain tadpole distributions vary not only among species, but also among populations of the same species. © 2003, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.