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Dryad

Data from: Phenological delay despite warming in wood frog (Rana sylvatica) reproductive timing: a 20-year study

Data files

Aug 19, 2020 version files 334.29 KB

Abstract

Across all taxa, amphibians exhibit some of the strongest phenological shifts in response to climate change. As climates warm, amphibians and other animals are expected to breed earlier in response to temperature cues. However, if species use fixed cues such as daylight, their breeding timing might remain fixed, potentially creating disconnects between their life history and environmental conditions. Wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) are a cold-adapted species that reproduce in early spring, immediately after breeding ponds are free of ice. We used long-term surveys of wood frog oviposition timing in 64 breeding ponds over 20 years to show that, despite experiencing a warming of 0.29 °C per decade in annual temperature, wood frog breeding phenology has shifted later by 2.8 days since 2000 (1.4 days per decade; 4.8 days per °C). This counterintuitive pattern is likely the result of changes in the timing of snowpack accumulation and melting. Finally, we used relationships between climate and oviposition between 2000 and 2018 to hindcast oviposition dates from climate records to model longer-term trends since 1980. Our study indicates that species can respond to fine-grained seasonal climate heterogeneity within years that is not apparent or counterintuitive when related to annual trends across years.