Age, size and body condition do not equally reflect population response to habitat change in the common spadefoot toad Pelobates fuscus

PeerJ

article

Dan Cogălniceanu¹  Florina Stănescu¹  Diana Székely²  Theodor-Sebastian Topliceanu¹  Ruben Iosif¹  Paul Székely² 

[1] Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Ovidius University Constanța;Asociația Chelonia Romania;Black Sea Institute for Development and Security Studies, Ovidius University;CEDMOG-Center for Morphological and Genetic Studies of Malignant Pathology, Ovidius University Constanța;Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas y Agropecuarias, Laboratorio de Ecología Tropical y Servicios Ecosistémicos ,(EcoSs Lab), Universidad Técnica Particular de Loja

关键词: Amphibia;    Fitness;    Growth;    Habitat fragmentation;    Habitat loss;    Life history;    Monitoring;    Romania;    Skeletochronology;    Urbanization;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.11678

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Urbanization impacts biodiversity both directly through physical expansion over land, and indirectly due to land use conversion and human behaviors associated with urban areas. We assessed the response of a common spadefoot toad population (Pelobates fuscus) to habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from urban development by studying changes in size, body condition and age parameters. We compared samples collected in the early 2000s (sample A) and later on during 2012–2014 (sample B). The terrestrial habitats in the study area were severely reduced and fragmented due to the expansion of the human settlement. We found no significant differences in the age parameters between the two sampling periods; the median lifespan shortened from 3.5 (sample A) to 3.0 years (sample B), while the other age parameters were similar in both samples. In contrast, snout-vent length, body mass and body condition experienced a significant decrease over time. Our results suggest that changes in body size and body condition, rather than age parameters, better reflect the response of the common spadefoot toad population to declining habitat quality. Therefore, body measurements can provide reliable estimates of the impact of habitat degradation in amphibian populations.

【 授权许可】

CC BY