ArticleBMC ecology2020
How to recover from a bad start: size at metamorphosis affects growth and survival in a tropical amphibian.
Article in BMC ecology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The impact of chemical pollution across major life transitions: a meta-analysis on oxidative stress in amphibians.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Pooled it
- Playing it safe at early life stages: Balancing energy allocations to maximize fitness under seasonal pathogen dynamics.The Journal of animal ecology · 2026Article
- A tad bit of learning: Place and response learning in green frog (Rana clamitans) tadpoles.Learning & behavior · 2026Article
- Effects of Starvation on Growth Characteristics, Locomotor Performance, Foraging Behavior, and Hypoxia Tolerance in Chinese Giant Salamander (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Article
- The direct cost of amphibian metamorphosis: insights from body weight loss in facultative paedomorphs.BMC biology · 2026Article
- The Individual and Combined Effects of Warming and Atrazine on Lithobates pipiens Phenotypes: Implications for Frog Declines.Journal of experimental zoology. Part A, Ecological and integrative physiology · 2026Article
- Boreal Toad Survival Varies by Degree of Attenuation and Adaptation of a Fungal Pathogen.EcoHealth · 2026Article
- When time turns the tide: the interactive effects of ammonium and warming during the larval stage on the resulting adult frogs.Frontiers in zoology · 2025Article
- Consequences of developmental and growth-rate plasticity within and across life stages in wood frogs (Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Climate but Not Land Use Influences Body Size of Fowler's Toad (Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Assessing the effects of conductivity on egg development and survival of Eastern Hellbenders (Cryptobranchus a. alleganiensis).Scientific reports · 2025Article
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- Triclocarban exposure at environmentally relevant concentrations perturbs the gut microbiota and metabolic profile inFrontiers in microbiology · 2025Article
- Increased Temperature and Exposure to Ammonium Alter the Life Cycle of an Anuran Species.Ecology and evolution · 2024Article
- Complex Organisms Must Deal with Complex Threats: How Does Amphibian Conservation Deal with Biphasic Life Cycles?Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Review
- The effect of salt dosing for chytrid mitigation on tadpoles of a threatened frog, Litoria aurea.Journal of comparative physiology. B, Biochemical, systemic, and environmental physiology · 2023Article
- Mapping the correlations and gaps in studies of complex life histories.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
- Article
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- Effects of elevated temperature, reduced hydroperiod, and invasive bullfrog larvae on pacific chorus frog larvae.PloS one · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundIn species with complex life cycles, size at metamorphosis is a key life-history trait which reflects the complex interactions between costs and benefits of life in the aquatic and terrestrial environments. Whereas the effects of a deteriorating larval habitat (e.g. pond desiccation) on triggering an early metamorphosis have been extensively investigated in amphibians, the consequences of the resulting reduced size at metamorphosis on fitness in the post-metamorphic terrestrial stage remain poorly understood. We tested the hypothesis that a smaller size at metamorphosis negatively affects performance and survival in the ensuing terrestrial stage. Using as model a tropical amphibian (Ceratophrys stolzmanni) showing a large phenotypic plasticity in metamorphosing traits, we evaluated the effects of size at metamorphosis on fitness-related trophic and locomotor performance traits, as well as on growth and survival rates.
resultsOur results support the hypothesis that a larger size at metamorphosis is correlated with better survival and performance. The survival rate of large metamorphosing individuals was 95%, compared to 60% for those completing metamorphosis at a small size. Locomotor performance and gape size were positively correlated with body size, larger animals being more mobile and capable to ingest larger prey. However, smaller individuals achieved higher growth rates, thus reducing the size gap.
conclusionsOverall, size at metamorphosis affected profoundly the chances of survival in the short term, but smaller surviving individuals partly compensated their initial disadvantages by increasing growth rates.
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