Eleutherodactylus Johnstonei (Leptodactylidae)

The neotropical frog species, Eleutherodactylus johnstonei, is of widespread occurrence in the Lesser Antilles. This terrestrial amphibian primarily occupies disturbed habitats, although it may also be found in mature forest areas. Research has shown that dense ground vegetation tends to favor the frog's growth and reproduction. Moisture provided by such an environment may facilitate breeding. In recent years, these behaviors have received considerable attention. The male frogs' approach to mating seems to be inordinately complex. E. johnstonei males generally employ an assortment of tactics designed to enhance their reproductive success. The particular strategy chosen by individual frogs at any given time may depend on several different variables.

One island where the E. johnstonei population has been extensively investigated is Barbados in the West Indies. The research performed on the island has generally involved two separate and distinct habitats. Ovaska (1991), for example, examined E. johnstonei living in both a flower bed and a forest. The flower bed site occurred near the Bellairs Research Institute and was, therefore, called the Bellairs site. The forested study area was named the Greenwich site. The author examined the frogs' population structure, growth, reproduction, and use of retreats through markrecapture methods. During the study, such characteristics as

. . .
ogs traveled greater distances (2:571). In addition, E. johnstonei was found to stay within a given area over longer periods of time. Ovaska (1992) Table 2 shows that, after 300 days, few of the frogs had moved more than 5 meters. Furthermore, according to table 3, this localized behavior occurred regardless of the season (2:571). The tendency of E. johnstonei to stay in one place may be due in part to its limited locomotive capacity. However, it should also be noted that adult male frogs tend to wander less than adult females. In addition, these movements are generally shorter when the animals' population density is high. Such evidence seems to imply that E. johnstonei is territorial in nature. Indeed, not only do male frogs establish their own individual calling sites, but they also defend these areas against intruders (2:569). This territorial behavior may act to optimize each frog's call. A minimum distance between the amphibians could, for example, be required for females to be able to distinguish each individual vocalization. However, territoriality also serves to limit the number of male frogs that can call at any give time. Hence, in localities of high population density, there exists a certai
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Bellairs Greenwich, Ovaska Hunte's, June July, Stewart Rand, December March, Ovaska Hunte, Research Institute, Lesser Antilles, West Indies, Rand Vocalizations, calling males, bellairs site, bellairs greenwich, ovaska 1992, eleutherodactylus johnstonei, male frogs, barbados west indies, population density, calling sites, barbados west, ovaska hunte, frog eleutherodactylus johnstonei, ovaska hunte 1992, bellairs greenwich sites, stewart rand 1991,
Approximate Word count = 2234
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page)