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AUTHORS. Joseph R. Milanovich, Daniella DeRose, Sarah Crites, Andrés Muñoz – Loyola University Chicago
ABSTRACT. Changes in plant communities are seen dramatically in wetland ecosystems where plant traits (e.g., nutrients and secondary compounds) vary across plant taxa. Since many wetland species have bi-phasic life cycles, the influence of changing wetland plant communities has the potential to be transferred to adjacent ecosystems. We used aquatic mesocosms and terrestrial enclosures to assess the influence of five different plant species with varying concentrations of Nitrogen, Phosphorus and phenolics on the larval (aquatic) and post-metamorphic (terrestrial) survival, size, growth, and export biomass of wood frogs (Rana sylvaticus). We found wood frog survival differed across plant treatments in the aquatic life stage, but not following metamorphosis. Tadpole and post-metamorphic size, growth and export biomass significantly varied across plant treatments. Tadpoles raised in treatments with low phenolic and high nutrient concentrations grew larger and sustained higher growth in the post-metamorphic life stage; however, variations in size, growth and biomass export did not differ following metamorphosis. Neither phenolic nor nutrient concentrations predicted tadpole survival or size. These results suggests variation in plant traits in the aquatic environment have measurable impacts on tadpole fitness, but do not have long-term impacts following metamorphosis.
