The Effects of Body Temperature on the Transit Rate and Hopping Endurance of Anaxyrus woodhousii
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Abstract
AnaxyruswoodhousiioccupiesanextensiverangeofhabitatsintheUnitedStates.
However,asanectotherm,bodytemperatureplaysacriticalroleindigestivephysiology
andbehaviorofA.woodhousii.Therefore,Iwasinterestedininvestigatingwhether
differentbodytemperaturescanaffecttransitrateandhoppingenduranceinA.
woodhousii.Idesignedtwoexperimentstoinvestigatetheeffectsofdifferent
temperaturesontransitrateandenduranceofhoppingbehavior.First,Iused20field
collectedindividualstotestthedigestiverateatfourdifferenttemperatures:16,21,26
and31ºC.Ikeptallthetoadsindividuallyinclearshoeboxeswithawaterbowland
plasticretreat,whichallowedthemtoaccesswaterandhidethemselves.Inmy
experiment,Iputallthetoadsinawalk-inchamberoracclimationchambers,whichwere
settoaspecifictemperatureanda12-hourphotoperiodstartingat0800CDT.BeforeI
startedthetransitrateexperiment,allthetoadsweremaintainedatroomtemperatureand
fedwithcricketseverydayforfourweeks.Duringtheexperimentoftransitrates,I
acclimatedallfourgroupsoftoadsataconstanttemperatureandfedthemcricketswhich
hadadifferentcoloredplasticbeadgluedtothemforsevendays.Allthetoadswent
throughfourtemperaturesbutindifferentordersoftemperature.Icheckedforfecesthree
timesperdayandover12hoursaday. OnceIfoundthebeadinthefeces,thebeadcolor
markedhowlongitstayedinthedigestivetractofA.woodhousii.Inthisexperiment,I
foundtherewasnosignificantdifferenceintransitrateofA.woodhousiioverthefour
temperaturesItested.Inaseparateexperiment,Itestedforeffectsofdifferent
temperatures(10,15and20ºC)onenduranceofhoppingbehaviorofeightA.
woodhousiiindividuals.Iacclimatedallthetoadsforfourdays beforestartingeachtrial,
andItestedeachtoad3timesateachtemperaturetodeterminethelengthoftimeitcould
hop.Inthisexperiment,alltoadshoppedonasmalltreadmillwithaspeedof0.074m/s.
Hoppingenduranceat20ºCwassignificantlylongercomparedtoboth10and15ºC.
Overthetemperaturerangefrequentlyencounteredbytoads,transitratewasunaffected,
buthoppingendurancewasdiminishedatlowtemperatures.