Many common frogs were trapped
under ice in early March and some inevitably died
Tue 27 Mar 2018 21.30 BSTLast
modified on Tue 27 Mar 2018 22.00 BST
The common frog Rana temporaria is
having a difficult spring. The extreme cold at the beginning of March trapped
many under ice. A lot continued to breathe through their skin, but after
several days some died from lack of oxygen. The survivors then got breeding
under way in many ponds, only for another three-day cold snap to halt
proceedings. Some ponds still have no spawn, while in others the adults have
already left piles of jelly to take their chance.
After years of observation – at
least in parts of central England – it appears frogs that breed in shallow
ponds that often dry out in the summer are the first to lay their eggs. The
tadpoles have the advantage that there are few predators in a seasonal pond,
but to survive they may have to develop extremely quickly if the spring and
early summer are unduly dry. It seems hardly credible that the adults sense
this and breed early, but in many deeper ponds that are never allowed to dry
out, particularly in gardens, the frogs habitually mate later. Both breeding
strategies seem to work, but which is most successful is hard to tell. Perhaps
it varies each year depending on the weather.
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