Hey everyone, I was wondering if much research has been done on the affect of lunar cycle on the activity of amphibians. I am aware of Deeming's 2008 paper where capture of newts correlated with the lunar cycle. I am interested to know if any other such correlations have been found in species around the world.
I guess it depend on the species, but if it works on general terms as in other vertebrates, it should reduce activity... in terms of its easier to get detected while illuminated by moon light.... Bats have a marked drop on activity during full moon days and a probable increase towards darker nights (new moon). I´ve seen some similar behaviour with some frogs in Mexico. I think it might work the same way with amphibians. Some reproductive events might be "predictable" with lunar patterns... depending on weather the conditions are favorable.
Amphibians show some inconsistency in their response to the lunar cycle. Unfortunately there is no published paper on the direct effect of moon light on amphibians' actiivity. I have some unpublished data on anurans showing that the study species (Hyla intermedia - Hylidae) modifiy the use of space by males according to the intensity of moonlight. Here it is a further paper I co-authored on this issue
Article Contrasted influences of moon phases on the reproduction and...
Andrew Gray at Manchester has made some interesting observations on Agalychnis spurrelli in Costa Rica, where breeding is highly synchronised with the full moon. His observations with captive A. spurrelli suggest it is light rather than the moon per se that is the trigger factor.
http://frogblogmanchester.com/about/a-spurrelli/
Moon cycle is of great value and dependence to all animals, but the lower organization the more dependent. Even human being is dependent.
I think this is clear to all field researchers who working with herps.
Dear Steven J R Allain
and Mikhail F. Bagaturov David O'Brien Leonardo Vignoli Balázs Farkas Alberto González-Gallina,
Kindly see the latest findings regarding the impact of the Lunar cycle on humans:
2013:
Article Evidence that the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep
2019:
Article The effects of lunar cycle on the diurnal variations of shor...
2021:
Article Does lunar cycle affect biological parameters in young healthy men?
Article Sex-specific association of the lunar cycle with sleep
Best regards,
Ismail.
Hi Steven,
Here is a recent paper on the influence of the lunar cycle on amphibian roadkills in Portugal :
Article Bad moon rising? The influence of the lunar cycle on amphibi...
I have published a lot in this area, since 2009. Each amphibian species has a different response to the lunar cycle, depending on ecology. I have also done a review of this topic. Be careful when looking at studies, that they have used a variety of sites over at least 4 years to make sure the result is meaningful. In one or two years only, any correlation with lunar cycles can be co-incidental. Most of my research has been done at a large number of sites an / or over many years. Bufo bufo in particular breeds at the full moon.
Grant, R. A., Chadwick, E. A., & Halliday, T. (2009). The lunar cycle: a cue for amphibian reproductive phenology?. Animal Behaviour, 78(2), 349-357.
Grant, R., Halliday, T., & Chadwick, E. (2013). Amphibians’ response to the lunar synodic cycle—a review of current knowledge, recommendations, and implications for conservation. Behavioral Ecology, 24(1), 53-62.
Jarvis, L. E., Grant, R. A., & SenGupta, A. (2021). Lunar phase as a cue for migrations to two species of explosive breeding amphibians—implications for conservation. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 67(1), 1-11.
Arnfield, H., Grant, R., Monk, C., & Uller, T. (2012). Factors influencing the timing of spring migration in common toads (B ufo bufo). Journal of Zoology, 288(2), 112-118.
Hi Steven, here's my humble contribution: our paper examining detectability associations in Bornean amphibians. We identified two species (both explosive stream breeding Megophryids with high calling intensity) with significant positive associations between detection probability and "higher" moonphases.
Probably not exactly what you are looking for, but this may be of interest.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/1565139#metadata_info_tab_contents
Hi Steven, here are a couple of articles you may be interested in relating to effects of the lunar cycle on toad activity patterns (both are publicly available via Google Scholar). Please let me know if you have any questions!
Best,
Brady
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