Department of Zoology, Conservation Science Group, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Froglife Trust, Peterborough, United Kingdom.
PLoS One. 2022 Jul 6;17(7):e0265156. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265156. eCollection 2022.
Terrestrial anurans, with their typically short limbs, heavy-set bodies and absent claws or toe pads are incongruous tree climbers, but even occasional arboreal locomotion could offer substantial advantages for evading predators or accessing new shelter or food resources. Despite recent interest, arboreal behaviour remains rarely and unsystematically described for terrestrial amphibians in Europe, likely due to fundamental differences in survey methods and therefore a lack of field data. However, other taxa surveys specifically target trees and tree cavities. We undertook collaborations and large-scale data searches with two major citizen science projects surveying for arboreal mammals in Britain to investigate potential tree climbing by amphibians at a national scale. Remarkably, we found widespread arboreal usage by amphibians in England and Wales, with occupancy of hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellenarius) nest boxes, tree cavities investigated as potential bat roosts and even a bird nest, by common toads (Bufo bufo), but few additional records of frogs or newts. Of the 277-400 sites surveyed annually for dormice since 2009 at least 18 sites had amphibians recorded in nest boxes while of the 1388 trees surveyed for bats a total 1.4% (19 trees) had toads present. Common toads were found using cavities in seven tree species and especially goat willow (Salix caprea). Toads are potentially attracted to tree cavities and arboreal nests because they provide safe and damp microenvironments which can support an abundance of invertebrate prey but the importance of such tree microhabitats for toad conservation remains unknown and our results should be interpreted cautiously. We encourage expanding and linking of unrelated biodiversity monitoring surveys and citizen science initiatives as valuable tools for investigating ecological traits and interactions.
陆生蛙类，通常具有短肢、粗壮的身体和缺失的爪子或脚趾垫，它们是不协调的树栖动物，但即使偶尔进行树栖运动，也可能为逃避捕食者或获取新的遮蔽物或食物资源提供实质性的优势。尽管最近引起了关注，但欧洲陆生两栖动物的树栖行为仍然很少被系统地描述，这可能是由于调查方法的根本差异，因此缺乏实地数据。然而，其他分类群的调查专门针对树木和树洞。我们与两个主要的公民科学项目合作，并进行了大规模的数据搜索，这些项目在英国调查树栖哺乳动物，以调查两栖动物在全国范围内潜在的爬树行为。值得注意的是，我们发现英国和威尔士的两栖动物广泛使用树木，榛睡鼠（Muscardinus avellenarius）巢箱、作为潜在蝙蝠栖息地的树洞，甚至是鸟窝，都被普通蟾蜍（Bufo bufo）占据，但关于青蛙或蝾螈的记录却很少。自 2009 年以来，每年对榛睡鼠进行 277-400 次调查，至少有 18 个巢箱中记录到了两栖动物，而对蝙蝠进行了 1388 次调查，共有 1.4%（19 棵树）的树上有蟾蜍。普通蟾蜍被发现在七种树种的树洞中活动，尤其是在山羊柳（Salix caprea）中。蟾蜍可能会被树洞和树栖巢吸引，因为它们提供了安全潮湿的微环境，可以支持大量的无脊椎动物猎物，但这些树栖小生境对蟾蜍保护的重要性尚不清楚，我们的结果应谨慎解释。我们鼓励扩展和链接无关的生物多样性监测调查和公民科学倡议，作为调查生态特征和相互作用的有价值的工具。
