Independent and interactive effects of temperature, water level and density on the cannibalism of Levant Green Frog, Pelophylax bedriagae (Camerano, 1882) larvae

Document Type : (original research)

Authors

Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran

Abstract

Cannibalism is an aggressive behavior in which the living organism eats whole or part of its body. In amphibians, cannibalism is done by feeding on its own eggs or larvae. The increase in temperature resulting from global warming, by affecting on the rate of intraspecific interaction and intensifying water level fluctuations and change in density, can alter the rate of cannibalism with a high coefficient in amphibian populations. In this study, independent and interactive effects of temperature (high and low), water level (hydroperiod) (high, low, and decreasing water levels), and density (low and high) factors on the cannibalism of Levant green frog Pelophylax bedriagae larvae was investigated in within 10 months. By considering the independent effect of the factors, the highest rate of cannibalism was observed in high temperature (56.6%), low water level (47.5%) and low density (53.33%). Due to the interactive effect, the highest percentage of cannibalism (including biting and whole body cannibalism) was recorded in the high temperature/low water level/low density treatment with 90%. In contrast, the lowest rate of cannibalism was recorded in two treatments: low temperature/low water level/low density, and low temperature/high water level/low density with 20%. The results of study showed that temperature and density had significant independent effects on the cannibalism but water level fluctuations are not significant. Also, interaction of three factors included temperature, water level and density had a significant effect on the rate of cannibalism.

Keywords

References

  1. Amburgey, S.; Chris Funk, W.; Murphy, M. and Muths, E., 2012. Effects of hydroperiod duration on survival, developmental rate, and size at metamorphosis in boreal chorus frog tadpoles (Pseudacris maculate). Herpetologica. Vol. 68, pp: 456-467.
  2. Anderson, T.L.; Mott, C.L.; Levine, D. and Whiteman, H.H., 2013. Life cycle complexity influences intraguild predation and cannibalism in pond communities. Copeia. Vol. 2, pp: 284-291.
  3. Aschonitis, V.G.; Gavioli, A.; Lanzoni, M.; Fano, E.A.; Feld, C. and Castaldelli, G., 2018. Proposing priorities of intervention for the recovery of native fish populations using hierarchical ranking of environmental and exotic species impact. Journal of environmental management. Vol. 210, pp: 36-50.
  4. Blaustein, A.R.; Romansic, J.M.; Kiesecker, J.M. and Hatch, A.C., 2003. Ultraviolet radiation, toxic chemicals and amphibian population declines. Diversity and Distributions. Vol. 9, pp: 123-140.
  5. Blaustein, A.R.; Walls, S.C.; Bancroft, B.A.; Lawler, J.; Searle, C.L. and Gervasi, S.S., 2010. Direct and indirect effects of climate change on amphibian populations. Diversity. Vol. 2, pp: 281-313.
  6. Blouin, M.S. and Brown, S.T., 2000. Effect of temperature- induced variation in Anura larval growth rate on head width and leg length at metamorphosis. Oecologia. Vol. 125,
    pp: 358-361.
  7. Bosch, J.; Carrascal, L.M.; Duran, L.; Walker, S. and Fisher, M.C., 2007. Climate change and outbreaks of amphibian chytridiomycosis in a montane area of Central Spain, is there a link? Proceedings of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences. Vol. 274, pp: 253-260.
  8. Bridges, C.M. and Semlitsch, R.D., 2000. Variation in pesticide tolerance of tadpoles among and within species of Ranidae and patterns of amphibian decline. Conservation Biology. Vol. 5, pp: 1490-1499.
  9. Chelgren, N.D.; Rosenberg, D.K.; Heppell, S.S. and Gitelman, A.I., 2006. Carryover aquatic effects on survival of metamorphic frogs during pond emigration Ecological Applications. Vol. 16, No. 1, pp: 250-261.
  10. Cushman, S.A., 2006. Effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on amphibians: A review and prospectus. Biological conservation. Vol. 128, pp: 231-240.
  11. Daneshvar, M.; Ebrahimi, R.M. and Nejadsoleymani, H., 2019. An overview of climate change in Iran: facts and statistics. Enviromental Systems Research. Vol. 8, pp: 7.
  12. Ferenti, S.; Dimancea, N.; David, A.; Tantari, A. and Darabani, D., 2009. Data on the feeding of a Rana ridibunda population from Sarighiol de Deal, Tulcea County, Romania Biharean Biologist. Vol. 3, pp: 45-50.
  13. Flury, A.G., 1972. Embryonic temperature of some midwestern members of the Rana pipiens complex. Texas Technology University (Dissertation).
  14. Fox, L.R., 1997. Cannibalism in natural populations, Annura. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. Vol. 6, pp: 87-106.
  15. Frost, D.R.G.; Rant, T.; Faivovich, J.; Bain, R.H.; Haas, A.; Haddad, C.F.B.; De Sá, R.O.; Channing, A.; Wilkinson, M., Donelan, S.C., Raxworthy, C.J., Campbell, J.A.; Blotto, B.L.; Moler, P.; Drewes, R.C.; Nussbaum, R.A.; Lynch, J.D.; Green, D.M. and Wheeler, W.C., 2008. The Amphibian Tree Life. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. Vol. 297, pp: 1-291.
  16. Hastings, A. and Costantino, R.F., 1991. Oscillations in population numbers: age dependent cannibalism. Journal of Animal Ecology. Vol. 60, pp: 471-482.
  17. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 2003. IPCC Technical Paper on Climate Change and Water.
  18. Johnson, J.M. and Franzluebers, A., 2007. Agricultural Operations to mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Environmental pollution. Vol. 150, pp: 107-124.
  19. Kriger, K.M. and Hero, J.M., 2007. The chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is non-randomly distributed across amphibian breeding habitats. Diversity and Distribution. Vol. 13, pp: 781-788.
  20. Kriger, K.M.; Hines, H.B.; Hyatt, A.D. and Boyle, D.G., 2006. Techniques for detecting chytridiomycosis in wildfrogs: comparing histology with real-timeTaqman PCR. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms. Vol. 71, pp: 141-148.
  21. Moradi, F.; Vaissi, S. and Akmali, V., 2019. Impacts of temperature, water level and density on cannibalism of larval Bufotes variabilis (Pallas, 1769). Journal of Animal Research. Vol. 32, pp: 25-35.
  22. Nilson, K.A. and Persson, L., 2013. Refuge availability and within species differences in cannibalism determin population variability and dynamics. Ecosphere. Vol. 4, pp: 1-15.
  23. Pckarsk, B.L.; Abrams, A.; Bolnick, D.I.; Dill, L.M.; Grawbowski, J.H.; Luttbeg, B. and Trussel, G.C., 2008. Revisiting the classics: considering non-consumptive effects in textbook example of predator-prey interactions. Ecology. Vol. 89, pp: 2416-2425.
  24. Plötner, J.; Baier, F.; Akın Pekşen, Ç.; Mazepa, G.; Schreiber, R.; Beerli, P.; Litvinchuk, S.; Bilgin, C.; Borkin, L. and Uzzell, T., 2012. Genetic data reveal that water frogs of Cyprus (genus Pelophylax) are an endemic species of Messinian origin. Zoosystematics and Evolution. Vol. 88, pp: 261-283.
  25. Polis, GA., 1981. The evolution and dynamics of intraspecific predation. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. Vol. 12, pp: 225-251.
  26. Reynolds, M.; Blakeslee, C.; Paciorek, T. and McRobert, S.P., 2011.  The effect of population density on survival and metamorphosis in American Toad (Bufo americanus) tadpoles. Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A. Vol. 18, pp: 241-246.
  27. Rojht, H.; Budiji, F. and Trdna, S., 2009. Effect temperature on cannibalism rate between green lacewings larvae (Chrysoperla carnea [Stephens] Neuroptera, Chrysopidae). Acta agriculturae Slovenica. Vol. 93, No. 1, pp: 5-9.
  28. Rosenzweig, M.L. and Macarthur, R.H., 1963. Graphical representation and stability conditions of predator-prey interactions. The American Naturalist. Vol. 97, pp: 209-223.
  29. Ryan, T.J. and Winne, C.T., 2001. Effects of hydroperiod on metamorphosis in Rana sphenocephala. The American Midland Naturalist. Vol. 145, No. 1, pp: 46-51.
  30. Safaei-Mahroo, B.; Ghaffari, H.; Fahimi, H.; Broomand, S.; Yazdanian, M.; Najafi-Majd, E.; Hosseinian Yousefkhani, S.S.; Rezazadeh, E.; Hosseinzadeh, M.S. and Nasrabadi, R., 2015. The herpetofauna of Iran: checklist of taxonomy, distribution and conservation status. Asian Herpetological Research. Vol.6, pp: 257-290.
  31. Skelly, D.K. and Kiesecker, J.M., 2001. Venue and outcome in ecological experiments: manipulations of larval anurans. Oikos. Vol. 94, pp: 198-208.
  32. Start, D.; Kirk, D.; Shea, D. and Gilbert, B., 2017. Cannibalism by damselflies increases with rising temperature. Biology letters. Vol. 13, pp: 2017-2075.
  33. Stoner, A.W.; Ottmar, M.L. and Haines, S.A., 2010. Temperature and habitat complexity mediate cannibalism in red king crab. Journal of Shellfish Research. Vol. 29, pp: 1005-1012.
  34. Vaissi, S. and Sharifi, M., 2016. Variation in food availability mediate the impact of density on cannibalism, growth, and survival in larval yellow spotted mountain newts (Neurergus microspilotus): Implications for captive breeding programs. Zoo Biology. Vol. 35, pp: 513-521.
  35. Vitt, L.J. and Caldwell, J.P., 2013. Herpetology: an introduction biology of amphibian and reptiles. Academic press.
  36. Voyles, J.; Rosenblum, E.B. and Berger, L., 2011. Interactions between Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis and its amphibian hosts: a review of pathogenesis and immunity. Microbes and Infection. Vol. 13, pp: 25-33.
  37. Wildy, E.; Chivers, D.; Kiesecker, J. and Blaustein, A., 2001. The effects of food level and conspecific density on biting and cannibalism in larval long-toed salamanders, Ambystoma macrodactylum. Oecologia. Vol. 128, pp: 202-209.
  38. Wissinger, S.; Whiteman, H.H.; Denoël, M.; Mumford, M.L. and Aubee, C.B., 2010. Consumptive and non consumptive effects of cannibalism in fluctuating age structured populations. Ecology. Vol. 91, pp: 549-559.
  39. Yksel, I., 2008. Global warming and renewable energy sources for sustainable development in Turkey. Renewable Energy. Vol. 33, pp: 802-881.
Journal of Animal Environment
Volume 12, Issue 4
December 2020
Pages 271-278

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics