Hop to it! Dispersal patterns in recently-metamorphosed Rana draytonii froglets

Student: Hale Garcia-Dean

Faculty Mentor: Derek Girman

Biology

College of Science, Technology, and Business

We examined patterns of dispersal undergone by recently metamorphosed California Red-legged frogs (Rana draytonii), a federally threatened species. We used radio telemetry techniques to track the movement patterns and habitat use of metamorphs dispersing from an established breeding pond in a grassland and oak-savannah habitat in Sonoma County, CA. By sampling multiple times in a 24-hour period, we were able to evaluate the effects of weather (daily precipitation accumulation, daily relative humidity, daily average wind speed, daily average temperature) and time of day on movement rates (m/hr) demonstrated by dispersing metamorphs. We found that movement patterns changed with respect to time of day, body condition, and moisture-related weather patterns. Despite their naïveté, metamorphs demonstrated a non-random orientation away from the pond, suggesting a preference for specific landscape features.