Dispersal in the Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica): Implications for Genetic Population Structure

• Published in: Evolution Vol. 44; no. 8; pp. 2047 - 2056
• Main Authors: Berven, Keith A., Grudzien, Thaddeus A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Malden, MA Society for the Study of Evolution 01-12-1990; Blackwell; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Breeding; Evolutionary genetics; Freshwater; Frogs; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene flow; Genetics; Genetics of eukaryotes. Biological and molecular evolution; Mating behavior; Ponds; Population genetics; Population genetics, reproduction patterns; Population size; Population structure; Rana sylvatica; Reptiles & amphibians; Vertebrata; Young animals; USA, Appalachian Mts; Vertebrata; Gene flow; Pond; Capture recapture method; Rana sylvatica; Breeding success; Amphibia; Population structure; Salientia; Population genetics; Dispersion
• ISSN: 0014-3820; 1558-5646
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1990.tb04310.x

Recapture of marked juvenile and adult wood frogs in five Appalachian Mountain ponds showed adults to be 100% faithful to the ponds in which they first bred, but approximately 18% of the juveniles dispersed to breed in ponds other than the one of origin. Effective population sizes were generally smaller than the population censuses and genetic neighborhoods had an average radius of 1,126 meters. Values of standardized genetic variance based on effective population size and mating success were relatively small. Genetic population structure estimated from the dispersal data suggested that ponds within about a 1,000 meter radius should show little genetic differentiation; ponds separated by a distance greater than 1,000 meters should experience little gene flow and show higher genetic differentiation. Wood frogs in these ponds do not show a meta-population structure as suggested for newts.