POSITIVE CORRELATION BETWEEN DISPERSAL AND BODY SIZE IN GREEN FROGS (RANA CLAMITANS) NATURALLY COLONIZING AN EXPERIMENTAL LANDSCAPE

Dispersers are often assumed to have the mean phenotype observed across the entire metapopulation, despite growing evidence of dispersal-phenotype correlations. We examined three dispersal-phenotype correlations in green frogs (Rana clamitans Latreille, 1801). Two were in traits that have been previously tied to fitness (body size and body condition), while a third (relative hindlimb length) has been linked to movement performance. We constructed a spatially dispersed array of experimental ponds in close proximity to source ponds known to support green frog breeding populations. Over the course of two breeding seasons (four sampling periods), we measured phenotypes of all green frogs that had colonized the experimental ponds and a sample of individuals from the source ponds. After only one month, a positive correlation was detected between dispersal and body size within the population of dispersers occupying the experimental ponds. After a second month, this positive dispersal-body size correlation was also present when comparing the population of dispersers to the population of non-dispersers remaining at the source ponds. Even if generated solely by plasticity, a positive correlation between dispersal and body size (a trait tightly linked to fitness) has the ability to alter metapopulation capacity and thus the probability of regional species persistence.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author