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Dispersal forms are an important component of the ecology of many animals, and reach particular importance for predicting ranges of invasive species. African clawed frogs (Xenopus laevis) move overland between water bodies, but all empirical studies are from invasive populations with none from their native southern Africa. Here we report on incidents of overland movement found through a capture-recapture study carried out over a three year period in Overstrand, South Africa. The maximum distance moved was 2.4 km with most of the 91 animals, representing 5% of the population, moving ∼150 m. We found no differences in distances moved by males and females, despite the former being smaller. Fewer males moved overland, but this was no different from the sex bias found in the population. In laboratory performance trials, we found that males outperformed females, in both distance moved and time to exhaustion, when corrected for size. Overland movement occurred throughout the year, but reached peaks in spring and early summer when temporary water bodies were drying. Despite permanent impoundments being located within the study area, we found no evidence for migrations of animals between temporary and permanent water bodies. Our study provides the first dispersal kernel for X. laevis and suggests that it is similar to many non-pipid anurans with respect to dispersal.
Figure 1. Position of the study site.(A) Southern Africa, with black dots showing known locations of Xenopus laevis. The data demonstrates the widespread distribution over the full altitudinal range of the region from the highlands of Lesotho (>3,000 m asl in white), through the Highveld of the escarpment (1,000 to 2,000 m asl in brown and yellow, respectively) to the lowland seaboard in grey (<500 m asl). (B) The site in the extreme southwest is 8 km East of Kleinmond (red star) borders the Botrivier Estuary to the South. The position of Jonkershoek (45 km northâwest of the study site) is shown with a yellow star. The area is chosen to show the Cape Fold Mountains (brown to yellow) and extensive lowland (grey) areas.
Figure 2. Schematic of movement by marked Xenopus laevis in (A) summer and (B) winter between water bodies.Thickness of red (A) and green (B) lines is proportionate to the amount of dispersal movements within that season. The site 5 km East of Kleinmond has natural temporary vleis (light blue) and anthropogenic impoundments (dark blue), and lies north of the brackish Botrivier Estuary. Paved (black line) and unpaved (brown lines) roads run through the area together with three temporary streams (blue lines).
Figure 3. Dispersal kernel of Xenopus laevis at a site near Kleinmond, South Africa.Bars show the frequency of distances moved between water bodies by individuals during capture-mark-recapture based on 108 movements of 91 individuals over three years. The data is best described by a lognormal curve (red line), for which the probability density function is provided (Y is the expected frequency of moving frogs, and x is the distance moved).
Figure 4. Numbers of Xenopus laevis caught per month in a pond other than the one in which they were marked.Spikes in December 2014 and October 2016 coincide with the drying of temporary waterbodies in those years.
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