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Social environment and reproductive interference affect reproductive success in the frog Rana latastei
Authors:Hettyey  Attila; Pearman  Peter B
Institution:Zoological Institute, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland
Abstract:Variation in the social environment produces selection on morphologicaland behavioral traits. It is less clear how the social environmentgenerates variation in demography through behavioral mechanisms.Theory suggests that one aspect of social environment, relativeabundance of heterospecifics, influences the intensity of reproductiveinterference and its demographic effects. These effects arecountered by species recognition and female preferences. Westudied the effects of social environment on reproductive successin replicated, mixed breeding populations of two ranid frogs,Rana latastei and Rana dalmatina, the former being of internationalconservation concern. We manipulated the social environmentof female R. latastei experimentally by varying the relativeabundance of potential conspecific and heterospecific sexualpartners. We measured amplexus frequency and recorded the reproductivesuccess of R. latastei females. When conspecific males wererelatively uncommon, (1) the absolute and relative frequenciesof conspecific amplexus decreased, indicating a breakdown ofsexual isolation, (2) oviposition was less frequent, and (3)the percentage of viable embryos in deposited clutches decreased.R. latastei females in an environment of low relative conspecificabundance (1:5, R. Latastei:R. dalmatina) demonstrated 6.8%the reproductive success of females in an environment exclusivelywith conspecifics. We present a model for the dependence ofconspecific amplexus on the social environment. We discuss severalmechanisms that may influence reproduction by R. latastei, andwe support conservation of the species' preferred habitat toreduce opportunities for reproductive interference that occurat shared breeding sites.
Keywords:amplexus  endangered species  frogs  interference  Rana dalmatina  Rana latastei  red list  reproductive success  sexual isolation  social environment  
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