Microhabitat use byHyla japonicaandPelophylax porosa brevipodaat Levees in Rice Paddy Areas of Japan
- 1 May 2013
- journal article
- Published by Zoological Society of Japan in Zoological Science
- Vol. 30 (5), 386-391
- https://doi.org/10.2108/zsj.30.386
Abstract
In Japan, rice paddies have acted as substitute habitats for pond-breeding frogs. However, frog populations are declining due to the loss of habitat and environmental changes in rice paddy areas. Frogs need both aquatic and terrestrial habitats to complete their life history; in rice paddy areas, levees that surround rice paddies provide terrestrial habitats for basking, foraging, and shelter from predators. Studying microhabitat use at levees is important to elucidating the ecological roles of levees and to properly managing them to support frog populations. In this study, we conducted surveys in lowland modernized rice paddy areas in Shiga Prefecture in which a common species, Hyla japonica, and an endangered species, Pelophylax porosa brevipoda, were found. We captured frogs at levees and recorded environmental factors related to levee vegetation, rice paddy conditions, and weather. We constructed generalized linear mixed models to examine the effects of environmental factors on juvenile and adult H. japonica and on small and large juveniles, females, and males of P. p. brevipoda. Our results showed distinct microhabitat uses at levees in different species, sexes, and body sizes. In general, abundance was high at levees with vegetation that provided shelter. The water depth in rice paddies negatively influenced juvenile H. japonica and large juvenile and small female P. p. brevipoda, and positively influenced small male P. p. brevipoda. The maintenance of a mosaic structure of levees was important not only to support frog populations but also to maintain frog diversity in the area.Keywords
This publication has 21 references indexed in Scilit:
- Negative Effects of Deep Roadside Ditches onPelophylax porosa brevipodaDispersal and Migration in Comparison withHyla japonicain a Rice Paddy Area in JapanZoological Science, 2012
- The grassland on levees is the habitat of Rana japonica in the terrace paddy fieldJOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION, 2007
- High dispersal in a frog species suggests that it is vulnerable to habitat fragmentationBiology Letters, 2005
- Environmental Factors that Regulate the Density of Rana porosa porosa on the Levees of Flatland Paddy FieldsJOURNAL OF RURAL PLANNING ASSOCIATION, 2005
- Core terrestrial habitat for conservation of local populations of salamanders and wood frogs in agricultural landscapesBiological Conservation, 2004
- Complexity in conservation: lessons from the global decline of amphibian populationsEcology Letters, 2002
- RICE FIELDS AS TEMPORARY WETLANDS: A REVIEWIsrael Journal of Zoology, 2001
- Feeding Habits of the Japanese Tree Frog, Hyla japonica, in the Reproductive SeasonZoological Science, 2000
- Distribution and Extinction Patterns within a Northern Metapopulation of the Pool Frog, Rana LessonaeEcology, 1994
- Microhabitat Selection and Predation in the Pacific Treefrog, Pseudacris regillaJournal of Herpetology, 1990