Assessment of Potential Indicator Species for Monitoring ...

WOOD FROG Rana sylvatica
1a. Present in the Fraser Basin year-round?
Yes.
1b. Broad distribution?
Yes, the most widespread amphibian in Canada (Green and Campbell 1984).
1c. Common in Fraser Basin?
Yes (Orchard 1984).
1d. Proportion of diet within the aquatic food web.
Adults are terrestrial feeder eating mainly insects and other invertebrates.
Tadpoles feed on detritus and algae (Orchard 1984).
2a. Has the home range of the species been described?
No.
2b. Habitat selection is well documented?
Forests, fields, muskegs though usually not far from water. Highly tolerant of cold
weather. Quite terrestrial and will forage far from water (Green and Campbell
1984).
2c. Breeding biology is well understood?
Breeds in early spring before ice has melted. Breeding occurs in shallow clear
ponds (Green and Campbell 1984). Eggs are laid in globular masses. They may be
attached to sticks and plants or lay freely in the water (Orchard pers. comm. 1994).
The tadpoles grow quickly and transform into frogs by mid-summer (Green and
Campbell 1984).
2d. Migration behaviour is well documented?
Like most amphibians it is an explosive breeder waiting for suitable conditions.
Suitable conditions may of course vary substantially from one region of the
province to another (Orchard pers. comm. 1994).
2e. Information on historic abundance?
No.
3a. Can nests or animal be easily located?
Males have a mating call which may be helpful in locating breeding sites, however,
the call may be heard for only a week or so. In summer Wood Frogs may be found
in grasses near the margins of waterways (Orchard pers. comm. 1994).
41