BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 August 2004 Reproductive Investment of Female Green Toads (Bufo viridis)
Sergio Castellano, Marco Cucco, Cristina Giacoma
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Females of iteroparous species may compromise between contrasting reproductive strategies. They should balance the amount of energy devoted to reproduction against the energy saved for growth and survival, and they should compromise between the quantity versus the quality of offspring. In the present paper, we analyze these trade-offs in European Green Toads (Bufo viridis). We define reproductive investment in terms of clutch dry mass, number of eggs, and mean ovum dry mass, whereas we describe the amount of resources saved for growth and survival (somatic investment) with a fat index derived from the total body electrical conductivity (TOBEC) of postspawning females. Our results indicate that larger individuals produce larger clutches, both in the number and size of eggs. Females with higher reproductive effort, however, also show a larger somatic investment regardless of size. We show that females of similar size invest similar proportions of resources in reproduction, so that those in good condition not only show larger reproductive effort than lower-quality females but also store larger amounts of resources for growth, survival, and future reproduction.

The American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
Sergio Castellano, Marco Cucco, and Cristina Giacoma "Reproductive Investment of Female Green Toads (Bufo viridis)," Copeia 2004(3), 659-664, (1 August 2004). https://doi.org/10.1643/CE-03-182R2
Accepted: 24 April 2004; Published: 1 August 2004
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top