Spatio-temporal dynamics of pond use and recruitment in Florida gopher frogs (Rana capito aesopus)

This study examines spatio-temporal dynamics of Florida gopher frog (Rana c apito aesopus) breeding and juvenile recruitment Ponds were situated within a hardwood-invaded or a savanna-like longleaf pine-wireglass upland matrix . Movement (N = 1444) was monitored using intermittent drift fences with pi tfall and funnel traps at eight isolated, ephemeral ponds February 1994 to January 1999. Adult pond use was low but relatively constant among years an d did not differ between habitat matrices. Juvenile recruitment was signifi cantly higher in the savanna-like upland matrix. The number of adults using ponds was positively correlated with the number of next-year's recruits in only one year. Recruitment rates were relatively low (maximum 175 captured /pond/yr% but juveniles were produced from most ponds in three of five year s. Recruitment was negligible in 1994 because of ponds drying and in 1997 f or unknown reasons; Juvenile body size differed significantly among years a nd ponds. Body size was negatively correlated with the number of juveniles exiting ponds in only one year, suggesting that intraspecific competition i s only one of many factors affecting juvenile body size. Most emigration by metamorphic juveniles occurred May through August and was unrelated to rai nfall. Dates of first emergence and length of emigration periods varied. A high proportion of juveniles with tailbuds and similar tailbud lengths in m ost months suggest that metamorphosis occurred throughout the emigration pe riod. High variability in juvenile recruitment success and significant diff erences in body size among years and ponds suggests that each is influenced by factors at both a landscape (e.g, rainfall and pond hydrology) and with in-pond scale (e.g, competition and predation).