You are what, where, and when you eat: seasonal and ontogenetic changes in a tropical tadpole’s diet

Abstract

Abstract Tadpole diet is likely to vary in response to environmental conditions and nutritional needs throughout growth and development. We investigated seasonal variation in diet composition of Bokermannohyla saxicola tadpoles and compared diets between two developmental stages with a significant difference in size. We found that the diet of B. saxicola tadpoles was dominated by periphytic algae, in accordance with their benthic habits. Considering number of cells ingested, tadpole trophic niches were broader in more advanced developmental stages. Tadpole trophic niches were narrower during the summer (wet season) than during the winter (dry season), which may reflect increased consumption of more energetic food items during the warm period when primary productivity is expected to be higher. Tadpole metabolism is likely to be higher in the summer and increased energetic needs might be supplied in this manner. However, results differed when biovolume was considered instead of number of cells ingested, with larger items assuming a greater importance and niches being usually larger in the summer. In these cases, the increased ingestion of diatoms (likely to be more nutritive) in the summer may decrease the relative importance of large algae (e.g., Mougeotia sp.) that form the bulk of the diet. Both food availability/accessibility and tadpole feeding behaviour driven by nutritional needs may influence patterns of food acquisition. Given the importance of biofilms to tadpole diet, studies on the mechanisms by which tadpole nutritional needs and environmental conditions interact are likely to provide important insights into the dynamics of aquatic food webs.