FREE ESSAY ON STUDY ON RANA PIPIENS

STUDY ON RANA PIPIENS

Leopard Frog - Rana Pipiens
Distribution: Found throughout Ontario but more abundant in southern and central
Americas.
Range: Adults maintain small home ranges (up to 500 m2) in fields or open forest during
the summer. Where terrestrial habitats are quite dry, home ranges include some shoreline.
A minimum of 4 ha of terrestrial habitat is recommended for the vicinity of breeding
sites, however, individual adults may move several kilometres away. Most recently
metamorphosed froglets stay within 20 m of shoreline although some froglets begin
dispersal before metamorphosis is entirely complete.
Diet: Larvae eat algae, phytoplankton, periphyton and detritus. Adults eat mainly
invertebrates but will also take tadpoles or very small froglets.
Reproduction: Successful breeding sites are permanent ponds, marshes, or pools or
backwaters of streams. Eggs and tadpoles require warm (prefer 18o - 28o C), shallow,
sunny areas. Breeding occurs from mid-March to mid-May in southern Ontario, and a few
weeks later further north. Metamorphosis occurs in 2-3 months.
Tadpoles require minimum oxygen concentrations of 3 ppm.
Habitat: Relative to bullfrogs and green frogs, leopard frogs use open fields more and
prefer denser terrestrial vegetation. In aquatic habitats, submerged vegetation, detritus
and soft mud are used for cover.
Lookout/Sunning 
Froglets require muddy shorelines, lily pads, rocks, logs or
beaver dams with clear access to deeper water.
Adults prefer unmowed fields (15 - 30 cm high, no more
than 1 m high vegetation) or open forest in the vicinity of
shallow open marshes.
Connectivity/Corridors
Corridors may be required among breeding, hibernation and
summeringhabitats, within 2 km. These may be either aquatic
(streams or rivers) or terrestrial (field or forest, usually not
cropland except during periods of irrigation).
Hibernation
Hibernate in deep or running water that will not freeze solid
or become anoxic. Are found hibernating on muddy
substrate or under rocks, sunken logs, leaf litter or
vegetation.
Oxygen levels at one known successful hibernation site were
7 ppm.
Tadpoles metamorphose in the year of hatching.
Hydrology
Permanent wetlands with fishless areas or near fishless
(temporary) wetlands.
Breeding requires sufficient water for metamorphosis to be
completed (mid-late August).
Soils/Substrate
In water prefer muddy bottom.
On land prefer moist soil, leaf litter or moss.
Design Criteria
Vegetation
Prefer egg-laying sites with emergent vegetation on about 2/3 of edge and submergent
vegetation in 1/2 of surface
area in May.
Structures
Rocks, logs, floating vegetation or dams to sun on, with access to deep water.
Submerged vegetation, logs or rocks to hide in.
Soils, Slope, & Substrate
Prefer wetlands with gradual slope at edge.
Hydrology
Hibernate in streams with minimum depth 90 cm, moderate mid-depth water velocity, minimal
sedimentation, and
rocks with average diameter of 20 cm.
Critical Periods
Breed April-June, metamorphose July-September
Other Considerations
Froglets are used as bait for fishing.
Has declined in much of its western range and apparently in northern Ontario.
Tadpoles and froglets are vulnerable to predation by large Bullfrogs and fish.
Bibliography
Cook, F. R. 1966. Amphibians and reptiles of Saskatchewan. Regina: Saskatchewan Museum of
Natural History,
Department of Natural Resources.
. 1984. Introduction to Canadian Amphibians and Reptiles. Ottawa: National Museum of
Natural Sciences.
Corn, P. S., and J. C. Fogleman. 1984. Extinction of Montane Populations of the Northern
Leopard Frog (Rana
pipiens) in Colorado. Journal of Herpetology 18: 147152.
Cunjak, R. A. 1986. Winter Habitat of Northern Leopard Frogs, Rana pipiens, in a Southern
Ontario Stream.
Canadian Journal of Zoology 64: 255257.
Emery, A. R., A. H. Berst, and K. Lodaira. 1972. Underice Observations of Wintering Sites
of Leopard Frogs. Copeia
1972 (1): 123126.
Hammerson Geoffrey A. 1982. Bullfrog Eliminating Leopard Frogs in Colorado? Herp Review
13 (4): 115116.
Hine, R. L., B. L. Les, and B. F. Hellmich. 1981. Leopard Frog Populations and Mortality
in Wisconsin, 197476.
Department of Natural Resources, Madison, Wisconsin.
McAlpine, D. F., and T. G. Dilworth. 1989. Microhabitat and Prey Size among Three Species
of Rana (Anura:
Ranidae) sympatric in eastern Canada. Canadian Journal of Zoology 67: 22442252.
Merrell, D. J. 1977. Life History of the Leopard Frog, Rana pipiens, in Minnesota.
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bell
Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota.
Niven, B. S., J. C. Moore, and M. G. Stewart. 1982. The Precise Environment of Some
WellKnown Animals X.
The Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens). Brisbane, Australia: School of Environmental Studies.
AES Paper 6/82. 32 p.
Roberts, W. E. 1981. What Happened to the Leopard Frogs? Alberta Naturalist 11: 14.
Seburn, C. N. L., Seburn David C., and C. A. Paszkowski. in press. Northern Leopard Frog
(Rana pipiens) Dispersal
in Relation to Habitat. Amphibians in Decline: The Report of the Canadian Declining
Amphibian Populations Task
Force.
Wassersug, R. J., and E. A. Seibert. 1975. Behavioural Responses of Amphibian Larvae to
Variation in Dissolved
Oxygen. Copeia 1975 (1): 86103.
Wershler, C. 1991. Status of the Northern Leopard Frog in Alberta 1990. Alberta Forestry
Lands & Wildlife.
Whitaker, J. O. 1961. Habitat and Food of MouseTrapped Young Rana pipiens and Rana
clamitans. Herpetologica
17 (3): 173179.