Is the Italian stream frog (Rana italica Dubois, 1987) an opportunistic exploiter of cave twilight zone?

Main Authors: Lunghi, Enrico, Bruni, Giacomo, Ficetola, Francesco Gentile, Manenti, Raoul
Format: Article
Terbitan: Pensoft Publishers , 2018
Subjects:
Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/1222539
ctrlnum 1222539
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?> <dc schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd"><creator>Lunghi, Enrico</creator><creator>Bruni, Giacomo</creator><creator>Ficetola, Francesco Gentile</creator><creator>Manenti, Raoul</creator><date>2018-03-20</date><description>Studies on frogs exploiting subterranean environments are extremely scarce, as these Amphibians are usually considered accidental in these environments. However, according to recent studies, some anurans actively select subterranean environments on the basis of specific environmental features, and thus are able to inhabit these environments throughout the year. We present the first study on the abundance and spatial use of the Italian stream frog, Rana italica, in subterranean environments. We monthly collected data from 66 cave sectors during a whole year (2013), recording &gt; 120 detections of R. italica. Frogs were more frequently found close to the cave entrance, without significant differences between age classes or sexes. Adults generally were observed being higher up along cave walls compared to juveniles. Frogs abundance was higher in areas showing specific environmental features, such as warm temperature, low incident light and the presence of potential prey. Rana italica likely occupies subterranean areas characterized by a combination of microclimatic suitability and prey availability.</description><identifier>https://zenodo.org/record/1222539</identifier><identifier>10.3897/subtbiol.25.23803</identifier><identifier>oai:zenodo.org:1222539</identifier><publisher>Pensoft Publishers</publisher><relation>url:https://zenodo.org/communities/biosyslit</relation><rights>info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess</rights><rights>https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode</rights><source>Subterranean Biology 25 49-60</source><subject>Animalia</subject><subject>Chordata</subject><subject>Amphibia</subject><subject>Anura</subject><subject>Ranidae</subject><subject>Rana</subject><subject>Rana italica</subject><subject>biospeleology</subject><subject>Anuran</subject><subject>amphibian</subject><subject>cave biology</subject><subject>prey</subject><subject>microclimate</subject><subject>spatial use</subject><subject>food web</subject><title>Is the Italian stream frog (Rana italica Dubois, 1987) an opportunistic exploiter of cave twilight zone?</title><type>Journal:Article</type><type>Journal:Article</type><recordID>1222539</recordID></dc>
format Journal:Article
Journal
author Lunghi, Enrico
Bruni, Giacomo
Ficetola, Francesco Gentile
Manenti, Raoul
title Is the Italian stream frog (Rana italica Dubois, 1987) an opportunistic exploiter of cave twilight zone?
publisher Pensoft Publishers
publishDate 2018
topic Animalia
Chordata
Amphibia
Anura
Ranidae
Rana
Rana italica
biospeleology
Anuran
amphibian
cave biology
prey
microclimate
spatial use
food web
url https://zenodo.org/record/1222539
contents Studies on frogs exploiting subterranean environments are extremely scarce, as these Amphibians are usually considered accidental in these environments. However, according to recent studies, some anurans actively select subterranean environments on the basis of specific environmental features, and thus are able to inhabit these environments throughout the year. We present the first study on the abundance and spatial use of the Italian stream frog, Rana italica, in subterranean environments. We monthly collected data from 66 cave sectors during a whole year (2013), recording > 120 detections of R. italica. Frogs were more frequently found close to the cave entrance, without significant differences between age classes or sexes. Adults generally were observed being higher up along cave walls compared to juveniles. Frogs abundance was higher in areas showing specific environmental features, such as warm temperature, low incident light and the presence of potential prey. Rana italica likely occupies subterranean areas characterized by a combination of microclimatic suitability and prey availability.
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