Geographic variation in life-history traits :
growth season affects age structure, egg
size and clutch size in Andrew’s toad
(Bufo andrewsi)

Liao, WB; Luo, Y; Luo, SL; Lu, D; Jehle, R

Abstract

Background: Environmental variation associated with season length is likely to promote differentiation in lifehistory
traits, but has been little studied in natural populations of ectotherms. We investigated patterns of variation
in egg size, clutch size, age at sexual maturity, maximum age, mean age, growth rate and adult body size in
relation to growth season length among 17 populations of Andrew’s toad (Bufo andrewsi) at different latitudes and
altitudes in the Hengduan Mountains, western China.
Results: We found that egg size, age at sexual maturity, and mean age increased with decreasing length of the
growth season, whereas clutch size showed a converse cline. Body size did not increase with decreasing length of
the growth season, but was tightly linked to lifetime activity (i.e. the estimated number of active days during
lifetime). Males and females differed in their patterns of geographic variation in growth rates, which may be the
result of forces shaping the trade-off between growth and reproduction in different environments.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest that growth season plays an important role in shaping variation in life-history
traits in B. andrewsi across geographical gradients.

Citation

(Bufo andrewsi). Frontiers in Zoology, 13(6), https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-016-0138-0

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jan 28, 2016
• Publication Date: Feb 9, 2016
• Deposit Date: Feb 15, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Journal: Frontiers in Zoology
• Electronic ISSN: 1742-9994
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 6
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12983-016-0138-0
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12983-016-0138-0
• Related Public URLs: http://frontiersinzoology.biomedcentral.com/
• Additional Information: Funders : National Natural Sciences Foundation of China;Sichuan Province Outstanding Youth Academic Technology Leaders Program;Sichuan Province Department of Education Innovation Team Project; Grant Number: 31471996; Grant Number: 2013JQ0016; Grant Number: 15TD0019