Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Herpetology

Volume

1

Issue

37

Publication Date

2003

First Page

10

Last Page

17

Abstract

We conducted a quantitative analysis of adult and juvenile Eleutherodactylus coqui (coquí) habitat preferences in Puerto Rico. The analysis consisted of two surveys: one to quantify potential habitat and another to quantify habitat use. Coquís were found to use most habitats available to them; however, adults and juveniles preferred different plant species, habitat structural components, and heights from the forest floor. Adult and juvenile coquís had opposite associations with many important plant species in the forest (e.g., Prestoea montana and Heliconia carabea) and habitat structural components. Adults had a negative association with leaves and a positive association with leaf litter. Juveniles showed the opposite trend. Adults were more evenly distributed with respect to height than were juveniles, with adults preferring heights around 1.1 m and juveniles preferring heights closer to the forest floor. The quantitative survey technique for determining habitat preferences used in this study generally confirmed coquí habitat preferences known from qualitative assessments.

Comments

This is a final accepted manuscript. The published version may be accessed here http://dx.doi.org/10.1670/0022-1511(2003)037[0010:QAOHPF]2.0.CO;2

The publisher retains the copyright to this work and may require a subscription to access the published version.

Please use publisher's recommended citation.

Published with permission of the Journal of Herpetology

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