The Common River Frog Amietia quecketti is a well-known and widely distributed species in southern Africa. Despite the fact that it is a common species and quite prevalent in urban areas little is known about its behaviour. The North-West University Botanical Gardens was selected as study area as it supports a healthy population of Common River Frogs at a series of 18 water bodies. Each pond in the Garden was assigned a reference number and the surface area, depth and vegetation were noted. Frogs were located with the aid of strong flashlights. Specimens were caught by hand and transferred to clear plastic bags. Frogs were sexed and their mass and their snout-vent length (SVL) were determined. Frogs were subsequently individually marked by means of injecting a micro-transponder (pit-tag) subcutaneously. Field observations were conducted over two consecutive evenings every two weeks for a period of one year. On the first night all sites were visited and all frogs were scanned and their position, orientation and activity were noted. During the second night focus was on Pond 6 as it sustained the biggest population. Observation started at 19:15 and continued until 02:30. All frogs in and around the pond were scanned and detailed notes were taken, focusing on their orientation, behaviour, calling activity and distance to the nearest other frog. Results showed that limited movement between ponds in the Garden does occur. A number of individuals were recorded regularly. Some males had preferred call sites, and clear circadian and seasonal patterns with regards to males and females exist. The complex call structure consist of a chuck and a whine and then a combination of the two. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The Common River Frog Amietia quecketti is a well-known and widely distributed species in southern Africa. Despite the fact that it is a common species and quite prevalent in urban areas little is known about its behaviour. The North-West University Botanical Gardens was selected as study area as it supports a healthy population of Common River Frogs at a series of 18 water bodies. Each pond in the Garden was assigned a reference number and the surface area, depth and vegetation were noted. Frogs were located with the aid of strong flashlights. Specimens were caught by hand and transferred to clear plastic bags. Frogs were sexed and their mass and their snout-vent length (SVL) were determined. Frogs were subsequently individually marked by means of injecting a micro-transponder (pit-tag) subcutaneously. Field observations were conducted over two consecutive evenings every two weeks for a period of one year. On the first night all sites were visited and all frogs were scanned and their position, orientation and activity were noted. During the second night focus was on Pond 6 as it sustained the biggest population. Observation started at 19:15 and continued until 02:30. All frogs in and around the pond were scanned and detailed notes were taken, focusing on their orientation, behaviour, calling activity and distance to the nearest other frog. Results showed that limited movement between ponds in the Garden does occur. A number of individuals were recorded regularly. Some males had preferred call sites, and clear circadian and seasonal patterns with regards to males and females exist. The complex call structure consist of a chuck and a whine and then a combination of the two. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Acoustic communication in anurans plays a critical role in species recognition, defending territories and resources, and finding a mate. Anurans use a number of different call note types to communicate, from which the most notable are advertisement- and aggression calls. Optimum weather conditions are a precursor to the commencement of the breeding season for all frog species and their calling behaviour is therefore readily influenced by atmospheric conditions. Male frogs within a chorus also tend to call from territories within a specific range of distances from one another. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine a possible context in which call note types are produced, 2) to determine the effect of atmospheric conditions on calling behaviour and 3) to determine the spacing distances between males and females in a chorus of Queckett’s River Frog (Amietia quecketti). Pre-recorded note types were used in a playback experiment to determine a context for elicited responses. A context was derived for six of the responses. Advertisement (clicks and whines), aggression (creaks), encounter (tonal notes), territorial (whine-tonal notes), and release calls (squeaks) were described. Calls and atmospheric conditions were recorded and correlated for an entire breeding season. Water temperature, wind speed, humidity and barometric pressure had a significant effect on calling intensity. As water temperature decreased calling intensity increased, while increased wind temperature led to increased calling intensity. Amietia quecketti calls from the water, explaining the effect while increased wind speed decreases water temperature and can carry sound further. Both humidity and barometric pressure showed increased calling intensity only at specific levels. Humidity and barometric pressure have a direct effect on one another, which most likely causes the correlation between calling intensity and both these variables. In this study A. quecketti was shown to have breeding ponds for males and resting ponds and positions for non-gravid females. This prevents unwanted or unnecessary amplexus. Males showed much smaller and less variable territory sizes than females. This is most likely because males have a small range of optimal spacing distance while females move towards and away from males. The presence of vegetation resulted in smaller territories. This is possibly because smaller males act as satellite males and cannot be seen by larger males in vegetation. The size of males did not affect territory size. Males have a specific inter-male spacing distance regardless of size. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Acoustic communication in anurans plays a critical role in species recognition, defending territories and resources, and finding a mate. Anurans use a number of different call note types to communicate, from which the most notable are advertisement- and aggression calls. Optimum weather conditions are a precursor to the commencement of the breeding season for all frog species and their calling behaviour is therefore readily influenced by atmospheric conditions. Male frogs within a chorus also tend to call from territories within a specific range of distances from one another. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine a possible context in which call note types are produced, 2) to determine the effect of atmospheric conditions on calling behaviour and 3) to determine the spacing distances between males and females in a chorus of Queckett’s River Frog (Amietia quecketti). Pre-recorded note types were used in a playback experiment to determine a context for elicited responses. A context was derived for six of the responses. Advertisement (clicks and whines), aggression (creaks), encounter (tonal notes), territorial (whine-tonal notes), and release calls (squeaks) were described. Calls and atmospheric conditions were recorded and correlated for an entire breeding season. Water temperature, wind speed, humidity and barometric pressure had a significant effect on calling intensity. As water temperature decreased calling intensity increased, while increased wind temperature led to increased calling intensity. Amietia quecketti calls from the water, explaining the effect while increased wind speed decreases water temperature and can carry sound further. Both humidity and barometric pressure showed increased calling intensity only at specific levels. Humidity and barometric pressure have a direct effect on one another, which most likely causes the correlation between calling intensity and both these variables. In this study A. quecketti was shown to have breeding ponds for males and resting ponds and positions for non-gravid females. This prevents unwanted or unnecessary amplexus. Males showed much smaller and less variable territory sizes than females. This is most likely because males have a small range of optimal spacing distance while females move towards and away from males. The presence of vegetation resulted in smaller territories. This is possibly because smaller males act as satellite males and cannot be seen by larger males in vegetation. The size of males did not affect territory size. Males have a specific inter-male spacing distance regardless of size. / MSc (Environmental Sciences), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The waterborne pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), amphibian chytrid, is implicated as being the causative agent for global amphibian declines. The fungus attacks the keratinized skin of adult and postmetamorphic animals and the keratinized mouthparts of tadpoles. Postmetamorphic animals seem to be more susceptible to Bd than tadpoles and adult frogs. Hypotheses exist that the origin of the fungus is in Africa. During the study different aspects of Bd infections in South African frogs were examined including the distribution of Bd, cultivation of Bd, preservation of cultures, the morphology of Bd as an infection as well as in culture and finally differences in host defense. Positive and negative localities for Bd were identified through surveys conducted in South Africa. These data will be contributed to the Bd Mapping Project and the African Bd Database in order to determine whether chytrid has any environmental preferences. Cultures obtained from the positive localities were maintained and cryopreserved for use in numerous experiments. In a future study, DNA extractions from the cultures will be analyzed using multilocus sequence typing in order to determine the sequence type of South African strains in comparison with global strains. This will provide important epidemiological information concerning the origin and control of Bd. The morphology of Bd was also examined using scanning electron microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy. Damage due to Bd infections was more severe on the larval mouthparts of Amietia vertebralis than that of Hadromophryne natalensis. The adverse effect of Bd is therefore not limited to postmetamorphic animals. Confocal microscopy uses fluorescent stains and lasers to examine specific structures within organisms. An especially effective stain used during confocal microscopy on Bd is Calcofluor White M2R. Due to its specificity this stain can be used as an effective screening tool for Bd in tissue. The role of antimicrobial skin peptides as a defense against Bd was also examined. A. vertebralis experiences die-offs due to chytrid, while H. natalensis does not experience the same effect in the presence of Bd. H. natalensis possess more antimicrobial skin peptides against Bd with a higher effectiveness than peptides extracted from A. vertebralis. This may explain the observed susceptibility of A. vertebralis to Bd. The relevance of this study is in order to identify areas in South Africa in which the probability of finding Bd is high. This will help in the surveillance of Bd and in the identification of susceptible species to be monitored and protected against the fungus. The effect of Bd on frog species can also be determined by means of exposure experiment using cultures isolated during this study. Through the identification of peptides effective against Bd, predictions can be made with regard to the susceptibility of different frogs to Bd, improving our ability to protect the amphibian biodiversity in South Africa. With the use of confocal microscopy in the examination of Bd, we became the first group to use the method. By the identification of a stain with a high potential as a screening tool, we also contributed to the more efficient identification of Bd in tissue. Keywords: Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd, amphibian chytrid, distribution, cultivation, antimicrobial skin peptides, laser scanning confocal microscopy, Amietia vertebralis, Hadromophryne natalensis, South Africa / Thesis (M. Environmental Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

The waterborne pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), amphibian chytrid, is implicated as being the causative agent for global amphibian declines. The fungus attacks the keratinized skin of adult and postmetamorphic animals and the keratinized mouthparts of tadpoles. Postmetamorphic animals seem to be more susceptible to Bd than tadpoles and adult frogs. Hypotheses exist that the origin of the fungus is in Africa. During the study different aspects of Bd infections in South African frogs were examined including the distribution of Bd, cultivation of Bd, preservation of cultures, the morphology of Bd as an infection as well as in culture and finally differences in host defense. Positive and negative localities for Bd were identified through surveys conducted in South Africa. These data will be contributed to the Bd Mapping Project and the African Bd Database in order to determine whether chytrid has any environmental preferences. Cultures obtained from the positive localities were maintained and cryopreserved for use in numerous experiments. In a future study, DNA extractions from the cultures will be analyzed using multilocus sequence typing in order to determine the sequence type of South African strains in comparison with global strains. This will provide important epidemiological information concerning the origin and control of Bd. The morphology of Bd was also examined using scanning electron microscopy and laser scanning confocal microscopy. Damage due to Bd infections was more severe on the larval mouthparts of Amietia vertebralis than that of Hadromophryne natalensis. The adverse effect of Bd is therefore not limited to postmetamorphic animals. Confocal microscopy uses fluorescent stains and lasers to examine specific structures within organisms. An especially effective stain used during confocal microscopy on Bd is Calcofluor White M2R. Due to its specificity this stain can be used as an effective screening tool for Bd in tissue. The role of antimicrobial skin peptides as a defense against Bd was also examined. A. vertebralis experiences die-offs due to chytrid, while H. natalensis does not experience the same effect in the presence of Bd. H. natalensis possess more antimicrobial skin peptides against Bd with a higher effectiveness than peptides extracted from A. vertebralis. This may explain the observed susceptibility of A. vertebralis to Bd. The relevance of this study is in order to identify areas in South Africa in which the probability of finding Bd is high. This will help in the surveillance of Bd and in the identification of susceptible species to be monitored and protected against the fungus. The effect of Bd on frog species can also be determined by means of exposure experiment using cultures isolated during this study. Through the identification of peptides effective against Bd, predictions can be made with regard to the susceptibility of different frogs to Bd, improving our ability to protect the amphibian biodiversity in South Africa. With the use of confocal microscopy in the examination of Bd, we became the first group to use the method. By the identification of a stain with a high potential as a screening tool, we also contributed to the more efficient identification of Bd in tissue. Keywords: Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd, amphibian chytrid, distribution, cultivation, antimicrobial skin peptides, laser scanning confocal microscopy, Amietia vertebralis, Hadromophryne natalensis, South Africa / Thesis (M. Environmental Science)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.