Intermediate pond sizes contain the highest density, richness, and diversity of pond-breeding amphibians.

ABSTRACT: We present data on amphibian density, species richness, and diversity from a 7140-ha area consisting of 200 ponds in the Midwestern U.S. that represents most of the possible lentic aquatic breeding habitats common in this region. Our study includes all possible breeding sites with natural and anthropogenic disturbance processes that can be missing from studies where sampling intensity is low, sample area is small, or partial disturbance gradients are sampled. We tested whether pond area was a significant predictor of density, species richness, and diversity of amphibians and if values peaked at intermediate pond areas. We found that in all cases a quadratic model fit our data significantly better than a linear model. Because small ponds have a high probability of pond drying and large pond

SUBMITTER: Semlitsch RD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4408075 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature