Article
Biology
Birgit Szabo, Rosanna Mangione, Matthias Rath, Andrius Pasukonis, Stephan A. Reber, Jinook Oh, Max Ringler, Eva Ringler
Summary: Successful detection of potential predators and appropriate response behaviors are crucial for animal juveniles to survive until reproduction. This study found that Neotropical poison frog tadpoles can innately recognize and effectively avoid some predators using multi-modal signals, with visual cues influencing tadpole activity.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Magda Vodrazkova, Irena Setlikova, Josef Navratil, Michal Berec
Summary: This study investigated the impact of a predator on the embryos of common frogs, finding that the presence of a red-eared slider accelerated the hatching time, resulting in smaller embryos at a lower stage of development.
Article
Ecology
Dan M. Parker, Keenan Stears, Terence Olckers, Melissa H. Schmitt
Summary: Habitat heterogeneity plays a crucial role in shaping species diversity and distribution. Changes in vegetation structure in African savannas have led to increased woody plant cover and homogenization of vegetation structure. We conducted a study in an African savanna to investigate the ecological implications of different habitat management practices on arthropod and bird communities. Our findings suggest that vegetation management practices contribute to habitat heterogeneity and increase bird species richness through species turnover. However, dominance of a single vegetation management practice may lead to simplification of the avian community.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2023)
Article
Biology
Jackson R. Phillips, Amanda E. Hewes, Molly C. Womack, Kurt Schwenk
Summary: Frog larvae undergo multiple transformations before metamorphosing into adults, including transitioning from bubble sucking to breaching and from passive adaptation to active regulation of blood oxygen. These transitions occur simultaneously in Xenopus laevis tadpoles, but lung vascularization does not significantly increase until metamorphosis, suggesting that lung maturation alone cannot account for increased pulmonary capacity earlier in development.
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
M. Vodrazkova, I Setlikova, J. Navratil, M. Berec
Summary: The study highlights the impacts of the presence of an alien predator on the development and size of common frog tadpoles, with early exposure resulting in longer larval periods and smaller size at metamorphosis. Removing the predator led to accelerated growth, yet it was not sufficient to compensate for the initial growth slowdown. Late presence of the predator had no significant impact on metamorphosis traits.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Physiology
Leonardo S. Longhini, Lucas A. Zena, Elias T. Polymeropoulos, Aline C. G. Rocha, Gabriela da Silva Leandro, Cynthia P. A. Prado, Kenia C. Bicego, Luciane H. Gargaglioni
Summary: The study suggests that tadpoles of B. ibitiguara living in a thermally stable environment have limited capacity to adjust to the highest temperatures found in their microhabitat, making the species more vulnerable to future climate change.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Travis J. Guy, Matthew C. Hutchinson, Katherine C. R. Baldock, Elisha Kayser, Benjamin Baiser, Phillip P. A. Staniczenko, Jacob R. Goheen, Robert M. Pringle, Todd M. Palmer
Summary: Pollination by animals is an important ecosystem service and interactions between plants and pollinators provide a model system for studying ecological networks. However, plant-pollinator networks are often studied in isolation from broader ecosystems. Large herbivores can impact plant-pollinator networks by reducing resource availability through consumption of flowers.
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Chantal M. Lanctot, Tom Cresswell, Enzo Lombi, William W. Bennett
Summary: Synchrotron-based XFM and XANES imaging were used to study Se biodistribution and speciation in Limnodynastes peronii tadpoles. Results showed that Se primarily accumulated in the eyes, digestive, and excretory organs, with the majority converted to organo-Se.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Longhui Chai, Chuanlin Yin, Peter Muiruri Kamau, Lei Luo, Shilong Yang, Xiancui Lu, Dong Zheng, Yunfei Wang
Summary: The study demonstrates the structural and functional diversity of peptide families in the skin of Hyla japonica, showing their evolution as an efficient chemical toolkit for defense in arboreal habitat with functional consistency compared to other amphibian species. Anntoxin-like neurotoxins with high expression levels are found to be species-specific in tree frogs, with derivatives exhibiting multiple evolutionary traits.
Article
Ecology
Jason E. Donaldson, Ricardo M. Holdo, T. Michael Anderson, Thomas A. Morrison, J. Grant C. Hopcraft, Jennifer Mcintyre, Eileen Devaney, Gareth Hempson, Basil Senso, Aidan Trentinus, Vanessa O. Ezenwa
Summary: Fires in grassy ecosystems have direct and indirect effects on parasites. The indirect effects are caused by concentrated herbivory, which leads to the recolonization of parasite larvae and changes in larval densities due to grass biomass and ambient temperature. The fire and concentrated herbivory create distinct infection risks for local herbivores in burned and unburned areas.
JOURNAL OF ANIMAL ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Kazuko Hase, Nobuyuki Kutsukake
Summary: Little is known about kin recognition systems and their plasticity in vertebrates, including well-studied tadpoles. This study evaluates the plasticity of kin and conspecific discrimination in tadpoles of the Japanese montane brown frog Rana ornativentris. The results suggest that prior associations modulate kin templates along tadpole ontogeny and the presence of non-kin enhances the learning of kin/non-kin. This study provides the first example that plasticity of kin recognition affects both kin-biased association and conspecific recognition in tadpoles.
Article
Plant Sciences
Heath Beckett, A. Carla Staver, Tristan Charles-Dominique, William J. Bond
Summary: Fires play a significant role in regulating vegetation structure in savanna ecosystems, with rare extreme fires having the potential to convert closed-canopy forests to open savannas. The long-term effects of such extreme fires on vegetation composition and fire regimes, as well as the transition from forest to savanna, remain largely unknown.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Studies
Ulfia A. Lenfers, Nima Ahmady-Moghaddam, Daniel Glake, Florian Ocker, Julius Weyl, Thomas Clemen
Summary: Understanding the dynamics of tree species is crucial for predicting savanna ecosystems' future developments. This study compares the interactions between elephant-tree and firewood collector-tree using a multiagent model. By modeling individual trees, elephants, and firewood collectors, the authors were able to predict future developments and observed an increase in thinner trees and a reduction in mature trees.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Kurt A. Gust, Karl J. Indest, Guilherme Lotufo, Steven J. Everman, Carina M. Jung, Mark L. Ballentine, Allison V. Hoke, Bintu Sowe, Aarti Gautam, Rasha Hammamieh, Qing Ji, Natalie D. Barker
Summary: The study suggests that munition exposure can alter tadpole skin microbiome composition and affect the transcriptional profiles in the amphibian host, potentially impacting the host's health and immune status. The findings indicate direct effects of munitions exposure on the skin microbiome, as well as possible indirect effects on microbial flora. The research highlights the importance of understanding the potential impacts of munition exposure on amphibian health and disease resistance.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Behavioral Sciences
Ita A. E. Rivera-Hernandez, Adam L. Crane, Michael S. Pollock, Maud C. O. Ferrari
Summary: Chemical information plays a vital role in the sensory ecology of aquatic species, including alarm cues and disturbance cues. This study used wood frog tadpoles to demonstrate that repeated exposure to disturbance cues during the embryonic stage can induce neophobic behavior, while disturbance cues do not serve as associative learning cues.
