Potential Consequences of the Coqui Frog Invasion in Hawaii
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Diversity and Distributions
Volume
5
Issue
11
Publication Date
2005
First Page
427
Last Page
433
Abstract
In Hawaii, where there are no native reptiles or amphibians, 27 species of reptiles and amphibians have established (Kraus 2003); however, few have been studied to determine their ecological impacts. For example, little is known about the impacts of the Puerto Rican frog, Eleutherodactylus coqui Thomas, that recently invaded (late 1980s) (Kraus et al. 1999), and has established on all four main Hawaiian Islands (Kraus & Campbell 2002). However, there are likely to be consequences because E. coqui can attain high densities (20570 frogs ha−1 on average in Puerto Rico) and consume large quantities of invertebrates (114 000 prey items ha−1 per night on average in Puerto Rico) (Stewart & Woolbright 1996).
Recommended Citation
Beard, K.H. and W.C. Pitt. 2005. Potential consequences of the coqui frog invasion in Hawaii. Diversity and Distributions 11(5):427-433.