Published in

Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, Journal of herpetology, 1(37), p. 10-17

DOI: 10.1670/0022-1511(2003)037[0010:qaohpf]2.0.co;2

Links

Tools

Export citation

Search in Google Scholar

Quantitative Assessment of Habitat Preferences for the Puerto Rican Terrestrial Frog, Eleutherodactylus coqui

Journal article published in 2003 by Karen H. Beard ORCID, Sarah McCullough, Anne K. Eschtruth
This paper is available in a repository.
This paper is available in a repository.

Full text: Download

Question mark in circle
Preprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Postprint: policy unknown
Question mark in circle
Published version: policy unknown
Data provided by SHERPA/RoMEO

Abstract

We conducted a quantitative analysis of adult and juvenile Eleutherodactylus coqui (coquí) habitat preferences in Puerto Rico. The analysis consisted of two surveys: one to quantify potential habitat and another to quantify habitat use. Coquís were found to use most habitats available to them; however, adults and juveniles preferred different plant species, habitat structural components, and heights from the forest floor. Adult and juvenile coquís had opposite associations with many important plant species in the forest (e.g., Prestoea montana and Heliconia carabea) and habitat structural components. Adults had a negative association with leaves and a positive association with leaf litter. Juveniles showed the opposite trend. Adults were more evenly distributed with respect to height than were juveniles, with adults preferring heights around 1.1 m and juveniles preferring heights closer to the forest floor. The quantitative survey technique for determining habitat preferences used in this study generally confirmed coquí habitat preferences known from qualitative assessments.