Role of Substrate Cues in Habitat Selection by Recently Metamorphosed Bufo terrestris and Scaphiopus holbrookii
Brooke Baughman and Brian D. Todd*
University of Georgia, Savanna River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken,
South Carolina 29802,USA
Abstract
Amphibians exhibit high rates of evaporative water loss that can affect
their distribution, movements, and patterns of habitat use. Forest clearcutting
alters habitat and results in environmental changes such as canopy removal
and leaf litter loss that may promote drier microclimates in harvested
clearcuts. Subsequently, clearcutting has been shown to generally reduce
amphibian abundance and richness. We investigated the role of substrate
cues in habitat differentiation between clearcuts and forests in juvenile
Southern Toads (Bufo terrestris) and Eastern Spadefoot Toads (Scaphiopus
holbrookii) in laboratory experiments. Neither B. terrestris
nor S. holbrookii exhibited a preference for a single substrate
when offered the choice between forest soil and clearcut soil. However,
S. holbrookii significantly preferred forest substrate over clearcut
substrate when forest litter was added to the forest soil. The affinity
for forest litter exhibited by juvenile S. holbrookii suggests
that the availability of suitable microhabitats may be an important determinant
of S. holbrookii distributions and may explain previously reported
habitat associations in field studies.
* Corresponding author: Email todd@srel.edu
SREL Reprint #3002
Baughman, B. and B. D. Todd. 2007. Role of Substrate Cues in Habitat Selection by Recently Metamorphosed Bufo terrestris and Scaphiopus holbrookii. Journal of Herpetology 41:153-156.
