CARRY-OVER EFFECTS OF THE REARING ENVIRONMENT ON AMPHIBIAN ANTI-PREDATOR BEHAVIOR

Jonathan Nielsen Schafer

In this study, we examined whether northern leopard frog (Lithobates pipiens; NLF) tadpoles exposed to invertebrate and bullfrog (L. catesbeianus) predator cues exhibit altered anti-predator behavior post-metamorphosis. Our findings provide some support for the hypothesis that larval predator exposure influences post-metamorphic behavior by providing information about future predation risk, as we found evidence that NLF tadpoles reared with bullfrog and alarm cues exhibited a reduction in activity when exposed to bullfrogs post-metamorphosis. This could suggest a carry-over effect of predator-specific information, and raises questions about the adaptive significance of reduced activity as an anti-predator strategy. Our data also suggests a potential link between predator-induced larval plasticity and post-metamorphic behavior, as tadpoles with deeper tails showed reduced activity as frogs. Additionally, all frogs, regardless of rearing conditions, spent the least amount of time near bullfrogs in the post-metamorphic assays, suggesting they possess an innate fear of general predator characteristics, but prior experience to bullfrog predation reduces reduce activity at this life history stage. Although bullfrog assays provided evidence of a carry-over effect on behavior, larval predator exposure did not influence general sensitivity in flight-response assays. Instead, temperature played an important role, with increased responsiveness associated with cooler conditions during larval development and at the time of the assay. This study highlights a previously undocumented connection between larval predator exposure, predator-induced morphological plasticity, and post-metamorphic behavior, and the complex ways in which early environmental conditions can shape post-metamorphic behavior. These findings also provide considerations for captive-rearing conditions of amphibians in headstarting reintroduction efforts.

CARRY-OVER EFFECTS OF THE REARING ENVIRONMENT ON AMPHIBIAN ANTI-PREDATOR BEHAVIOR

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