Quantity Counts: Amount of Litter Determines Tadpole Performance in Experimental Microcosms

Cohen, Jillian S.; Ng, Stacey Y.; Blossey, Bernd

doi:10.1670/10-289

Cited by 14 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…Alternatively, tadpoles may eat leaf litter directly (Altig et al ), and the amount and nutritional value of different types of litter may affect amphibian growth and development similar to the effects of various periphyton diets (Skelly and Golon , Williams et al , Cohen et al a ). We could not detect a difference in the fern‐shrub vegetation axis score due to treatment; however, the mulch and burn treatment resulted in a significantly greater reduction in leaf litter depth (also a variable on the same ordination axis) than other treatments, and higher species richness of generalist species than no treatment, so the mulch and burn treatment may have benefited generalists by removing recalcitrant litter (Maerz et al , Cohen et al b ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Specialist and generalist amphibians respond to wetland restoration treatments

Klaus

Noss

2016

J Wildl Manag

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Available habitat within a landscape is often more limited for specialist species than for generalists. Therefore, specialists are potentially more vulnerable to extinction. The goal of our study was to better understand the ephemeral wetland habitat associations of specialist and generalist amphibians within a longleaf pine landscape in the southeastern United States. We also sought to determine specialist (e. examined the relationship between aquatic specialist and generalist amphibian species occupancy and wetland vegetation structure. We measured vegetation and amphibian responses to prescribed fire and vegetation mulching (a fire surrogate), plus a combination of mulching and burning. Untreated controls were wetlands that had not burned for 4-15 years. We combined data from this study and a previous study to elucidate patterns in amphibian assemblages in relation to fire history. Specialist relative species richness was highest when canopy openness was high and leaf litter depth was low, conditions best achieved by mulching plus burning. Some specialist species were not detected in wetlands with >8 years since fire, and some generalist species were not detected in wetlands with <2 years since fire, indicating that as vegetation structure changes with time since fire, there is a corresponding shift in the amphibian assemblage. Important patterns in species distributions can be overlooked if relationships to environment and responses to habitat change are too generalized and do not account for shifts in community composition. For conservation of longleaf pine specialist species, we recommend that uplands continue to be prescribed-burned on a 1-3-year return interval. Burning should occur during the early growing season when possible to maximize the probability that wetland basins burn. In cases where species of high conservation value are at imminent risk of extinction, we recommend a combination of mulching and burning to most quickly restore suitable habitat structure. Ó 2016 The Wildlife Society.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Specialist and generalist amphibians respond to wetland restoration treatments

Klaus

Noss

2016

J Wildl Manag

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“…There are a plethora of studies evaluating the effects of leaf litter quality (Rubbo and Kiesecker 2004, Earl et al 2011, Stoler and Relyea 2011, Stephens et al 2013 and quantity (Rubbo et al 2008, Cohen et al 2012) on pond-breeding amphibians, but these studies are often done in small-scale, short-term (cattle tank) experiments without shredding macroinvertebrates. By excluding shredders from pond food web studies, the importance of leaf litter may be underestimated.…”

Section: The Mobilization Of Leaf-derived Nutrientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconciling the role of terrestrial leaves in pond food webs: a whole‐ecosystem experiment

Holgerson

Post

Skelly

2016

Ecology

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Terrestrial carbon and nutrients can subsidize the detrital pool of freshwater ecosystems; yet, the importance of terrestrial subsidies to lake and pond food webs is uncertain and debated. Terrestrial detritus is expected to have the greatest impact on food webs when water bodies are small and shallow with low levels of incident light. Temporary forested ponds fit this description and are often assumed to have a leaf detritus-based food web, but this has not been quantified. In a whole-ecosystem experiment, we traced the flow of isotopically enriched leaf litter to primary producers and consumers in a small, forested pond. We found that terrestrial leaves provided nutrients to algae, offering an indirect pathway in which leaf litter can enter the food web. Terrestrial leaves were also consumed directly, and larval caddisfly (Limnephilus sp.) shredders likely mobilized leaf nutrients to other consumers, a process overlooked in many previous small-scale experiments that did not incorporate shredders. Unexpectedly, most consumers relied heavily upon algal food pathways despite low light and net heterotrophic conditions. Overall, our study highlights the interconnectedness of algal and leaf litter pathways in small pond food webs, and emphasizes that algal pathways are prevalent and important even in small, shaded ponds with high loads of terrestrial leaf litter.

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“…In contrast, toads in this experiment consumed mostly periphyton (Appendix C: Fig. C2), which is a relatively nutrient-rich resource but far less abundant than leaf litter (Cross et al 2005, Cohen et al 2012. For this species, ES predicted food-quantity limitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Ecological stoichiometry quantitatively predicts responses of tadpoles to a food quality gradient

Stephens

Berven

Tiegs

et al. 2015

Ecology

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Ecological stoichiometry (ES) uses elemental ratios and mass balance to explain organismal growth, an important parameter in ecological systems. In this study, we tested quantitative predictions of the ES "minimal model" for the growth rates of two tadpole species (wood frogs, Lithobates sylvaticus and American toads, Anaxyrus americanus), by manipulating light and the quality of a leaf litter mixture in a seminatural mesocosm experiment. We predicted that wood frogs, which consume leaf litter as a resource, would respond more strongly to leaf litter quality than toads, which forage on periphyton and algae. The ES minimal model, parameterized from literature values, provided strikingly accurate quantitative predictions of nonlinear wood frog growth patterns across gradients of leaf litter quality, both in this experiment and when applied to previously published data on wood frog growth responses to various leaf litter species. In contrast, toad growth was best explained by the biomass of periphyton, which was driven primarily by light availability and only indirectly influenced by litter-derived soluble polyphenols. This study demonstrates the power of ES to predict organism growth rates, and highlights potential applications of this theory to predicting population- and community-level responses to changing forest environments.

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Quantity Counts: Amount of Litter Determines Tadpole Performance in Experimental Microcosms

Cited by 14 publications

References 57 publications

Specialist and generalist amphibians respond to wetland restoration treatments

Specialist and generalist amphibians respond to wetland restoration treatments

Reconciling the role of terrestrial leaves in pond food webs: a whole‐ecosystem experiment

Ecological stoichiometry quantitatively predicts responses of tadpoles to a food quality gradient

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