The diet of coexisting species of amphibians in Canadian jack pine forests

Diets of adults of amphibian species coexisting in the boreal forest are po orly understood. We quantified and compared the diets of adult amphibians f rom four jack pine (Pinus banksiana) forests in east-central Canada. Result s showed that American toads (Bufo americanus) and northern redback salaman ders (Plethodon cinereus) were predominantly ant-eaters; blue-spotted salam anders (Ambystoma laterale) fed mainly on snails, beetles, and insect larva e; spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) took primarily spiders and wasps; a nd wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) took a variety of alternative prey and had t he highest dietary diversity. Diets of these amphibians differed significan tly among the species in all study sites. Discriminant analyses showed spec ies separation based on food type, the variable representing the proportion of ants in stomach contents being the major contributor to the discriminan t functions in all assemblages.