Salinity and Other Abiotic Characteristics of Oviposition Sites of the Rhacophorid Frog, Buergeria japonica, in Coastal Habitat

Abstract

Oviposition sites of Buergeria japonica were surveyed in portions of two streams near the coast on Okinawa Island, Ryukyu Archipelago, Japan. Twenty-five and 52 oviposition sites were found. At all these sites the salinity was conthese portions to the sea breeze.The pH value at the sites, ranging from 7.7-10.2, never dropped into the acid range. There were no significant differences in water depth or distance from the bank at the oviposition sites between the two streams, despite the prominent differences in some topographic characters, such as maximum water depth and stream width.

Phylogeny and Differentiation of Wide-Ranging Ryukyu Kajika FrogBuergeria japonica(Amphibia: Rhacophoridae): Geographic Genetic Pattern Not Simply Explained by Vicariance Through Strait Formation

“…Buergeria japonica inhabits various environments including coastal area (Haramura, 2004) and lays eggs in the mouths of streams, no more than 100 m from sea (Maeda and Matsui, 1999), unlike other sympatric frog species. Although embryos of this species are not particularly strong in salinity tolerance (Haramura, 2007), its high abundance around seacoasts would facilitate the spreading of its range across the sea.…”

“…It inhabits various environments from small mountain stream to artificial ditch around urban area and even small river mouth around sandy beach (Maeda and Matsui, 1999). This last habitat is particularly unique among Japanese and Taiwanese frogs, and its high adaptation and tactics to coastal habitats have been demonstrated (Haramura, 2004(Haramura, , 2007a(Haramura, , b, 2008(Haramura, , 2011.…”

Effects of Salinity on the Survival, Growth, Development, and Metamorphosis ofFejervarya limnocharisTadpoles Living in Brackish Water

“…The issue of salinity effects on amphibian biology and ecology has recently drawn more attention, for at least two reasons. First, several studies have revealed that amphibians breed in brackish water more commonly than originally thought, and that they exhibit interesting physiological and ecological adjustments to increased salinity stress (Ruibal, 1959;Gordon et al, 1961;Gordon and Tucker, 1965;Beebee, 1985;Uchiyama et al, 1990;Møbjerg et al, 2000;Gomez-Mestre and Tejedo, 2003;Gomez-Mestre et al, 2004;Haramura, 2004). Second, amphibians are important indicator species for freshwater ecosystems that face increased salinization due to natural causes (Nielsen et al, 2003;Rios-López, 2008), or to anthropogenic causes (Chinathamby et al, 2006;Smith et al, 2007) such as salt pollution resulting from road de-icing salt runoff (Sanzo and Hecnar, 2006;Karraker, 2007).…”

Salinity acclimation enhances salinity tolerance in tadpoles living in brackish water through increased Na+, K+-ATPase expression

“…Most amphibians breed in freshwater and avoid breeding in high salinity (Wells, 2007). Nevertheless a small number of species have populations breeding naturally in brackish water bodies (Gordon and Tucker, '65;Balinsky, '81;MØbjerg et al, 2000;Gomez-Mestre et al, 2004;Haramura, 2004;Wu and Kam, 2009;Sillero and Ribeiro, 2010), or in freshwater ponds threatened by increased salinization from either natural causes (e.g., sea levels rise) (Rios-López, 2008), or anthropogenic causes (e.g., road deicing salt runoff) (Sanzo and Hecnar, 2006;Karraker et al, 2008;Collins and Russell, 2009). Given their high sensitivity to osmotic stress, the imbalance in water and ion homeostasis is a serious threat to amphibian survival (Voyles et al, 2007(Voyles et al, , 2009.…”