Trophic Ecology of Two Sympatric Frogs with Contrasting Morphology and Habitat Use in a Subtropical Wetland Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • 2018 by The Herpetologists' League, Inc. Frog diets are influenced by multiple factors, including morphological constraints, habitat use, and seasonal variation in environmental conditions and food availability. This study combined stomach content analysis (SCA), stable isotope analysis (SIA), and estimates of prey availability to investigate the influence of body size and microhabitat use on seasonal variation of the trophic ecology of two sympatric hylids (Pseudis minuta and Scinax squalirostris). We evaluated two hypotheses: (1) the species with larger body and mouth sizes or broader use of microhabitats will have greater diet breadth, and (2) regardless of differences in morphological traits and microhabitat use, diet breadth of both species will be greater during the warmer of two periods. Pseudis minuta exhibited larger body size and mouth width and revealed broader use of microhabitats (mostly within and near major water bodies), whereas S. squalirostris had smaller body size and mouth gape and was found exclusively within or near phytotelmata (plant-held water bodies). SCA revealed that P. minuta had a more diverse diet than S. squalirostris. Only P. minuta showed temporal dietary differences, but these findings did not corroborate our prediction of greater diet diversity during the warmer and drier period when prey densities were higher. The two species had distinct carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios, indicating assimilation of different resources, except during the colder wetter season when their isotope spaces overlapped partially. We concluded that the two hylids did not use the same food resources on account of their differences in morphology and microhabitat use, and environmental seasonality did not influence their feeding strategies.

published proceedings

  • HERPETOLOGICA

altmetric score

  • 254

author list (cited authors)

  • Huckembeck, S., Winemiller, K. O., Loebmann, D., & Garcia, A. M.

citation count

  • 9

complete list of authors

  • Huckembeck, Sonia||Winemiller, Kirk O||Loebmann, Daniel||Garcia, Alexandre M

publication date

  • September 2018