Spatial patterns of a Southern Bell Frog Litoria raniformis population in an agricultural landscape

Abstract

We investigated changes in the spatial organization of individuals within a population of endangered Southern Bell Frogs Litoria raniformis over an eight-month period. Our results identified strong temporal changes in both spatial organization and the apparent location of L. raniformis within the study site. Ripley's K Function analyses showed that the position of individuals relative to one another shifted from random immediately after the study site was flooded (p < 0.005), to strongly clustered at spatial scales between 0-1500 m during the peak breeding period (p < 0.005). The majority of flooded areas were dry by April and May and individuals again became aggregated within the remaining waterbodies.