Phenotypic indicators of developmental instability in an endemic amphibian from an altered landscape (Monegros, NE Spain)

The great sensitivity of amphibians to land disturbance is one of the main causes that contributed to their worldwide decline. One fundamental approach in assessing amphibian ability to reflect habitat degradation is to measure their phenotypic changes in contrasting environments. We examined the extent to which several morphological traits of the endemic anuran Pelophylax perezi responded to agricultural conversion in Monegros, an arid region in NE Spain. Specifically, we determined how body size, body mass, body condition (BC) and fluctuating asymmetry (FA) of different frog classes varied among habitats with different degree of management, i.e. rice fields vs. control ponds (i.e. small reservoirs). Leer más.