Reproductive ecology of Bombina variegata: aspects of life history

Abstract

AbstractIndividual reproductive behaviour and survival of Bombina variegata was studied in a dynamic habitat with a variety of rain-filled ponds from 1990 to 1992. Most animals reached sexual maturity at the age of two years. Annual adult survival was at least 62%. Individual females, on average, laid between 40 and 70 eggs per "clutch". While about 12% of the breeding females spawned a second time within the season, a similar proportion did not seem to spawn every possible year, probably depending on climatic conditions. The results are consistent with ultimate predictions from life history theory, but the proximate mechanisms of ovulation and spawning in response to environmental conditions remain to be investigated.