Evaluation of Factors Affecting the Larval Density of Fejervarya kawamurai in Japanese Paddy Fields, Especially Focusing on the Existence of Other Anuran Larvae

Although many anuran species in Japanese paddy ecosystems are decreasing because of recent modernization of rice paddies, Fejervaryakawamurai is one of the exceptions, being extremely abundant even in modernized paddies. To understand the reason for this phenomenon, we collected specimens of anuran...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurrent Herpetology Vol. 36; no. 2; pp. 87 - 97
Main Authors Noha, Kihiro, Shimada, Tomohiko
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kyoto UniBio Press 01.08.2017
The Herpetological Society of Japan
Subjects
Abiotic factors
Breeding
Density
Ecology
Ecosystems
Fejervarya kawamurai
Frogs
Hyla japonica
Interactions
Interspecific
Interspecific interaction
Interspecific relationships
Irrigation
Larvae
Larval assemblage
Modernization
Museums
Natural history
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Paddy ecosystem
Pelophylax nigromaculatus
Rice fields
Species
Sympatric populations
Japan
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Summary:Although many anuran species in Japanese paddy ecosystems are decreasing because of recent modernization of rice paddies, Fejervaryakawamurai is one of the exceptions, being extremely abundant even in modernized paddies. To understand the reason for this phenomenon, we collected specimens of anuran larvae in 92 paddy fields in west Mikawa area, Aichi Pref., Japan, and examined the biotic and abiotic factors affecting the density of F. kawamurai using model selection procedure with GLMM. The best model indicated that larval F. kawamurai tended to be abundant in paddies with low larval densities of Hyla japonica and Pelophylaxnigromaculatus. Considering that F. kawamurai tends to start breeding later in the season than H. japonica and P. nigromaculatus, we hypothesize there are some negative effects of these preceding larvae on larval F. kawamurai. Such interspecific interactions are thought to have acted as an ecological constraint for F. kawamurai in the traditional Japanese paddy ecosystem, where many anuran species sympatrically breed. Recent decrease of some early breeders like P. nigromaculatus, however, would provide relief from such restrictions to F. kawamurai, and might promote the population increase and distribution expansion of this species.
ISSN:1345-5834
1881-1019
DOI:10.5358/hsj.36.87