Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription or Fee Access

Western Palearctic Water Frogs’ (Pelophylax esculentus complex) Body Condition in Mixed Population Systems in Serbia Follow Levels of Habitat Suitability

Katarina Breka, Srđan Stamenković, Imre Krizmanić

Abstract


Body condition is an important indicator in many ecological studies since it is expected that individuals and populations perform better in habitats more suitable for species. A wide range of metrics have been proposed as condition indices. In this study, we estimated the phenotypic condition of water frog species using the residual condition index. The study was carried out in three localities adjacent to nature preserves in South Banat, Serbia and with different levels of preserved natural features and anthropogenic pressure. Selected localities are typical habitats of water frogs with two parental and their hemiclonal hybrid species present. The localities were scored for suitability of the aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Statistical significance of residual condition index patterns from a multiway ANOVA was obtained for locality but not for species and sex. The lowest condition index was observed in frogs sampled from a locality maintained by human activity and with the lowest habitat suitability. Furthermore, the highest body condition index was obtained on the locality with the highest habitat suitability. One of the parental species, P. ridibundus had the highest overall body condition index while the hybrid species (P. esculentus) had the lowest. None of the three species from the complex had the highest body condition in all three localities, nor the worst.

Keywords


Pelophylax; water frogs; residual index; body condition; habitat suitability; anthropogenic pressure

Full Text:

PDF

References


Anonymous (2010), Regulation on the Control of the Use and Trade of Wild Flora and Fauna in Serbia, Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia, No. 31/2005 – 9/2010.

Anonymous (2011), Management Plan of SRP "Deliblatska Peљeara" for the period from 2011 to 2020 [in Serbian], Public Enterprise "Vojvodina Љume", Petrovaradin, pp. 1 – 10.

Anonymous (2015), Management Plan for the Landscape of Exceptional Characteristics "Karaљ-Nera" for the period from 2016 to 2025 [in Serbian], Public Enterprise "Directorate for Construction of the Municipality of Bela Crkva.”

Addinsoft (2021), XLSTAT Statistical and Data Analysis Solution, New York, USA.

Amuzie C. C. and Ekerette I. B. (2018), “Health status of amphibians from an urbanizing community and a forest zone, rivers state. Nigeria,” Afr. J. Biomed. Res., 1(1), 63 – 71.

Băncilă R. I., Hartel T., Plăiaşu R., Smets J., and Cogălniceanu D. (2010), “Comparing three body condition indices in amphibians: a case study of yellow-bellied toad Bombina variegate,” Amphibia–Reptilia, 31(4), 558 – 562.

Breka K., Krizmanić I., Vukov T., and Stamenković S. (2020), “A procedure for taxon assessment based on morphological variation in European water frogs (Pelophylax esculentus complex),” Turk. J. Zool., 44(3), 215 – 223.

Brodeur J. C., Suarez R. P., Natale G. S., Ronco A. E., and Zaccagnini M. E. (2011), “Reduced body condition and enzymatic alterations in frogs inhabiting intensive crop production areas,” Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf., 74(5), 1370 – 1380.

Burton N. H. K., Rehfisch M. M., Clark N. A., and Dodd S. G. (2006), “Impacts of sudden winter habitat loss on the body condition and survival of redshank Tringa tetanus,” J. Appl. Ecol., 43, 464 – 473.

Cavraro F., Bettoso N., Zucchetta M., D’Aietti A., Faresi L., and Franzoi P. (2019), “Body condition in fish as a tool to detect the effects of anthropogenic pressures in transitional waters,” Aquat. Ecol., 53(1), 21 – 35.

Denić Lj., Čađo S., Dopuđa-Glišić T., Đurković A., Novaković B., Veljković N., Stojanović Z., and Domanović M. (2018), Report on the status of surface waters in Serbia in 2015 and 2016 [in Serbian], Serbian Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia, Belgrade.

Dunson W. A., Wyman R. L., and Corbett E. S. (1992), “A Symposium on Amphibian Declines and Habitat Acidification,” J. Herpetol., 26, 349 – 352.

Gleeson D., Blows M., and Owens I. (2005), “Genetic covariance between indices of body condition and immunocompetence in a passerine bird,” BMC Evol. Biol., 5(1), 61.

Green A. J. (2001), “Mass/length residuals: measures of body condition or generators of spurious results?» Ecology, 82, 1473 – 1483.

Günther R. (1974), “Neue daten zur verbreitung und ökologie der Grünfrösche (Anura, Ranidae) in der DDR,” Mitt. Zool. Mus. Berl., 50, 287 – 298.

Harvey P. H. and Pagel D. M. (1991), The Comparative Method in Evolutionary Biology, Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.

Hegde G. and Krishnamurthy S. V. (2014), “Health status of common frog Fejervarya limnocharis (Anura: Ranidae) in rice-paddy agroecosystems of Western Ghats, India,” Am. Eurasian. J. Agric. Environ. Sci., 14, 1492 – 1497.

Holenweg P. A. K., Reyer H. U., and Tietje G. A. (2002), “Species and sex ratio differences in mixed populations of hybridogenetic water frogs: the influence of pond features,” Ecoscience, 9, 1 – 11.

Hunt J., Brooks R., Jennions M. D., Smith M., Bentsen C., and Bussiere L. (2004), “High-quality male field crickets invest heavily in sexual display but die young,” Nature, 432, 1024 – 1027.

Jakob E. M., Marshall S. D., and Uetz G. W. (1996), “Estimating fitness a comparison of body condition indices,” Oikos, 77, 61 – 67.

Jelodar H. T. and Fazil H. (2012), “Monthly changes in condition, hepatosomatic index and bioavailability in frogs (Rana ridibunda),” J. Biol. Res., 2, 9 – 14.

Johnson D. M. (2009), “Measuring habitat quality: A review,” Condor, 109, 489 – 504

Krizmanić I. and Ivanović A. (2010), “Population systems of the Pelophylax esculentus complex in the southern part of its range,” Folia Zool., 59, 214 – 221.

Kuzmin S., Beebee T., Andreone F., Nyström P., Anthony B. P., Schmidt B., Ogrodowczyk A., Ogielska M., Cogalniceanu D., Kovács T., Kiss I., Puky M., and Vörös J. (2009), “Pelophylax lessonae (errata version published in 2016),” in: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

Labocha M. K., Schutz H., and Hayes J. P. (2014), “Which body condition index is best?» Oikos, 123, 111 – 119.

Lauk B. (2006), “Fluctuating asymmetry of the frog Crinia signifera in response to logging,” Wildl. Res., 33(4), 313 – 320.

Neveu A. (2009), “Suitability of European green frogs for intensive culture: comparison between different phenotypes of the esculenta hybridogenetic complex,” Aquaculture, 295(1 – 2), 30 – 37.

Oldham R. S., Keeble J., Swan M. J. S., and Jeffcote M. (2000), “Evaluating the suitability of habitat for the Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus),” Herpetol. J., 10, 143 – 155.

Matías-Ferrer N. and Escalante P. (2015), “Size, body condition, and limb asymmetry in two hylid frogs at different habitat disturbance levels in Veracruz, México,” Herpetol. J., 25(3), 169 – 176.

Peig J. and Green A. J. (2009), “New perspectives for estimating body condition from mass/length data: the scaled mass index as an alternative method,” Oikos, 118, 1883 – 1891.

Peig J. and Green A. J. (2010), “The paradigm of body condition: a critical reappraisal of current methods based on mass and length,” Funct. Ecol., 24, 1323 – 1332.

Planade B., Lena J., Li H., Plenet S., Guegan J., Thomas F., Hurtrezbousses S., Renaud F., and Joly P. (2009), “Tracking a heterosis effect in the field: tadpole resistance to parasites in the water frog hybridogenetic complex,” Parasitology, 136(9), 1003 – 1013.

Radder R. S. and Shanbhag B. A. (2004), “Factors influencing offspring traits in the oviparous multi-clutched lizard, Calotes versicolor (Agamidae),” J. Biosci., 29, 105 – 110.

Rowe C. L., Hopkins W. A., and Bridges C. (2003), “Physiological ecology of amphibians in relation to susceptibility to natural and anthropogenic factors,” in: G. Linder, S. Krest, and D. Sparling (eds.), Amphibian Decline: An Integrated Analysis of Multiple Stressor Effects, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Press, Pensacola, pp. 9 – 58.

Schulte-Hostedde A. I., Zinner B., Millar J. S., and Hickling G. J. (2005), “Restitution of Mass-Size Residuals: Validating Body Condition Indices,” Ecology, 86(1), 155 – 163.

Scroggie M. P., Preece K., Nicholson E., McCarthy M. A., Parris K. M., and Heard G. W. (2019), “Optimizing habitat management for amphibians: From simple models to complex decisions,” Biol. Conserv., 236, 60 – 69.

Solberg E., Loison A., Gaillard J., and Heim M. (2004), “Lasting effects of conditions at birth on moose body mass,” Ecography, 27, 677 – 687.

Speakman J. R. (2001), Body Composition Analysis of Animals: A Handbook of Non-Destructive Methods, Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, UK.

Spear P. A., Boily M., Giroux I., DeBlois C., Leclair M. H., Levasseur M., and Leclair R. (2009), “Study design, water quality, morphometrics and age of the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana, in sub-watersheds of the Yamaska River drainage basin, Québec, Canada,” Aquat. Toxicol., 91(2), 110 – 117.

Spirina E. V. (2009), “Morphophysiological adaptations in Rana ridibunda Pall. under the influence of pollution,” Byull. Altai. Gos. Agrar. Univ., 12(62), 64 – 68 [in Russian].

Stevenson R. D. and Woods W. A., Jr. (2006), “Condition indices for conservation: new uses for evolving tools,” Integr. Comp. Biol., 46(6), 1169 – 1190.

Svensson E., Sinervo B., and Comendant T. (2002), “Mechanistic and experimental analysis of condition and reproduction in a polymorphic lizard,” J. Evol. Biol., 15, 1034 – 1047.

Sztatecsny M. and Schabetsberger R. (2005), “Into thin air: vertical migration, body condition, and quality of terrestrial habitats of alpine Common Toads, Bufo bufo,” Can. J. Zool., 83, 788 – 796.

Tomkins J. L., Radwan J., Kotiaho J., and Tregenza T. (2004), “Genic capture and resolving the lek paradox,” Trends Ecol. Evol., 19, 323 – 328.

Unglaub B., Steinfartz S., Drechsler A., and Schmidt B. R. (2015), “Linking habitat suitability to demography in a pond-breeding amphibian,” Front. Zool., 12, 1 – 10.

Vukov T., Kalezić M., Tomović LJ., Krizmanić I., Jović D., Labus N., and Džukić G. (2013), “Amphibians in Serbia: distribution and diversity patterns,” Bull. Nat. Hist. Mus., 6, 90 – 112.

Vukov T., Tomović Lj., Krizmanić I., Labus N., Jović D., Džukić G., and Kalezić M. (2015),” Conservation issues of Serbian Amphibians identified from distributional, life-history and ecological data,” Acta. Zool. Bulg., 67, 105 – 116.

Zhelev Z. M., Popgeorgiev G. S., and Mehterov N. H. (2014), “Changes in the basic morphophysiological parameters in the populations of Pelophylax ridibundus (Amphibia: Ranidae) from anthropogenically polluted biotopes in Southern Bulgaria. Part 1,” Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 20(5), 1202 – 1210.

Zhelev Z. M., Popgeorgiev G. S., and Mehterov N. H. (2015), “Changes in the hepatosomatic index and condition factor in the populations of Pelophylax ridibundus (Amphibia: Ranidae) from anthropogenically polluted biotopes in Southern Bulgaria. Part 2,” Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 21, 534 – 539.

Zhelev Z. M., Tsonev S. V., and Arnaudova D. N. (2017), “Health status of Pelophylax ridibundus (Pallas, 1771) (Amphibia: Ranidae) in a Rice Paddy Ecosystem in Southern Bulgaria: Body condition factor and fluctuating asymmetry,” Acta. Zool. Bulg., Suppl. 8, 169 – 176.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.30906/1026-2296-2023-30-6-502-511

Refbacks



You can subscribe to the print or electronic version of the journal on the site of EastView Company. If you have any questions, please write to the email sales@ivis.ru