Herpetology Notes, volume 8: 263-265 (2015) (published online on 18 May 2015)

Effects of introduction and decline of a Bullfrog population

(Lithobates catesbeianus) in a community of amphibians
in the Cerrado from Central Brazil
Mariana Batista1,*, Mara Silva2 and Cristiane Barreto3

Native to North America, the bullfrog Lithobates

catesbeianus (Shaw, 1802) was introduced in several
countries, including Brazil, usually by means of
commercial breeding. This species represents a threat
to native species, causing their population declines
and even the apparent local extinction (e.g. Moyle,
1973; Batista, 2002; DAmore et al., 2009). Negative
impact to native communities happens due to adverse
effects that bullfrog causes on the fitness of other frogs,
which occurs by competition, predation and habitat use
alteration (Kupferberg, 1997; Kats and Ferrer, 2003;
Pearl et al., 2004; Rocha-Miranda et al., 2006; Boelter
and Cechin, 2007; Silva et al., 2011). However, recent
works have shown that negative impact on the fitness
of other frogs by bullfrog invasion is not expected
for all regions or communities (Adams et al., 2011;
Both et al., 2014). Thus, further studies are required
to investigate the effects of bullfrog introduction over
distinct conditions such as habitats, environments and
communities.
In a site located at Gois state, Central Brazil (155950 S, -48240.5 W; 956 m.a.s.l.), Batista
(2002) observed significant changes in a local amphibian
community after careless introduction and quick
proliferation of bullfrog. In December 1997, Batista

Programa de Ps-Graduao em Ecologia e Evoluo,

Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Federal de Gois,
Goinia, Brasil. Cx.P. 131, CEP 74.001-970.
2
Programa de Ps-Graduao em Ecologia e Conservao
da Biodiversidade, Instituto de Biocincias, Universidade
Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiab, Brasil, CEP 78060-900.
3
Centro de Desenvolvimento Sustentvel, Universidade de
Braslia, Braslia, Distrito Federal, Brasil, CEP 70910-900.
* Corresponding author: marianag_bio@hotmail.com
1

(2002) made a list of the anuran species of the local. In

early of 2000 the bullfrog was introduced in the area and
already in December 2000 changes were observed in the
local community. The author observed that species that
were locally abundant, like Leptodactylus labyrinthicus
(Spix, 1824) and Leptodactylus latrans (Steffen, 1815)
(referred to as Leptodactylus ocellatus in the study)
probably had become extinct in the community and the
population of Physalaemus cuvieri (Fitzinger, 1826)
had decreased. The study was conducted in an area
of Cerrado (a Brazilian central savanna), composed
by artificial and natural ponds, some dry and wet
savannas, gallery forests and disturbed areas (pasture
and plantation).
Ten years after Batistas (2002) inventory, we
conducted a new inventory of the amphibian fauna at
the same place. Our inventory was conducted at the
same water bodies of Batistas (2002) study, composed
mainly by four artificial and two natural ponds nearby
pasture and gallery forests (Fig. 1). All ponds are
permanent and have not changed significantly, they
only suffered natural oscillations of climatic seasonality.
The samplings occurred once in each rainy season from
October 2008 to February 2010, totaling three visits
where all water bodies were inventoried. There were
no records of the bullfrog suggesting that bullfrog did
not succeed at the site, presenting obvious decline and
possible local extinction. Additionally, local residents
also confirmed the absence of bullfrog. There were also
no records for L. latrans (Butter Frog). On the other
hand, we observed few individuals of L. labyrinthicus
(Pepper Frog), identified as absent in the previous
study. We still found Leptodactylus fuscus (Schneider,
1799) in abundance, which had not been previously
recorded. It was not possible to make inferences about
the size of the population of Physalaemus cuvieri due to
the lack of appropriated data about it in Batistas (2002)
study.

264

Mariana Batista et al.

Figure 1. Some of the sampled water bodies. (A) Artificial pond around three meters deep; (B) Artificial pond around two meters
deep; (C) Artificial pond approximately seven meters deep; (D) Natural water body about two meters deep.

There is a scarcity of studies about the introduction

of bullfrog in Brazilian Cerrado. Nevertheless, failed
bullfrog colonization was observed in this biome (see
review of Giovanelli, Haddad and Alexandrino, 2008).
Although the increase in bullfrog records (see Both et al.,
2011) and the great suitability predicted for bullfrog in
areas of Cerrado (Giovanelli, Haddad and Alexandrino,
2008), most of new records are for other biomes (Both
et al., 2011), which might reflect poor ability of bullfrog
colonization in Cerrado. As showed by Hecnar and
MCloskey (1997), droughts, that are common in the
Cerrado, decrease the number of bullfrog individuals
and might lead to population extinction. Thus, the
results of this study suggest that bullfrog populations are
probably unable to establish in Cerrado environments,
in contrast to what has been observed in other Brazilian
biomes (see Both et al., 2014).
Despite the impact observed on leptodactylid
populations by the invasive bullfrog, after its
disappearance, the population of pepper frog seems to
be recovering. A population recovering after bullfrog

removal was also observed for the California redlegged frogs, which changed their behavior ensuring
their survival (DAmore et al., 2009). We speculate
that the pepper frog may have changed its behavior
at the presence of bullfrog and then started to recover
their population, however we cannot make a rigorous
assessment of this hypothesis as bullfrog was not
observed at the area. In addition, there were no records
for the butter frog, which appears to have gone extinct
at the site after the introduction of bullfrog. This effect
is potentially due the higher negative impact by bullfrog
on anurans with great similarity in microhabitat use (see
Silva et al., 2011). However, we are unable to ensure
that bullfrog introduction was the leading cause of
local butter frog disappearance. Studies that allow us
to better understand bullfrog behavior, reproductive
biology, diet and competition with native species in
Brazil, particularly in the Cerrado biome, can be helpful
in providing information for management actions to
control the invasion of bullfrogs.

Effects of introduction and decline of a Bullfrog population in Central Brazil

265

Acknowledgements. We thank Camila Both and anonymous

reviewer for comments on manuscript. We also thank Dbora
Silvano for valuables suggestions and Emanuel Teixeira for
providing us a pre-peer review. We are grateful to Vincius
Santos for helping us with the pictures and Elba Albuquerque for
the English review.

References
Adams, M.J., Pearl, C.A., Galvan, S., Mccreary, B. (2011): Nonnative species impacts on pond occupancy by an anuran. Journal
of.Wildlife. Managemant 75: 305.
Batista, C.G. (2002): Rana catesbeiana (Bullfrog). Effects on
native anuran community. Herpetological Review 33: 131.
Boelter, R.A., Cechin, S.Z. (2007): Impacto da dieta de r-touro
(Lithobates catesbeianus - Anura, Ranidae) sobre a fauna
nativa: estudo de caso na regio de Agudo - RS - Brasil.
Natureza & Conservao 5: 45-53.
Both, C., Lingnau, R., Santos-Jr, A., Madalozzo, B., Lima, L. P.,
Grant, T. (2011): Widespread Occurrence of the American
Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus (Shaw, 1802) (Anura:
Ranidae), in Brazil. South American Journal of Herpetology 6:
127-134.
Both, C., Madalozzo, B., Lingnau, R., Grant, T. (2014): Amphibian
richness patterns in Atlantic Forest areas invaded by American
bullfrogs. Austral Ecology. Available at: http://doi.wiley.
com/10.1111/aec.12155
DAmore, A., Kirby, E., McNicholas, M. (2009): invasive species
shifts ontogenetic resource partitioning and microhabitat use of
a threatened native amphibian. Aquatic Conservation: Marine
and Freshwater Ecosystems 19: 534-541.
Giovanelli, J.G.R., Haddad, C.F.B., Alexandrino, J. (2008):
Predicting the potential distribution of the alien invasive
American bullfrog (Lithobates
catesbeianus) in Brazil.
Biological Invasions 10: 585-590.
Kats, L.B., Ferrer, R.P. (2003): Alien predators and amphibian
declines: review of two decades of science and the transition to
conservation. Diversity and Distributions 9: 99-110.
Kupferberg, S.J. (1997): Bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana) Invasion of
a California river: the role of competition. Ecology 78: 17361751.
Moyle, P.B. (1973): Effects of introduced bullfrogs, Rana
catesbeiana, on the native frogs of the San Joaquin Valley.
California. Copeia 1: 1822.
Pearl, C.A., Adams, M.J., Bury, R.B., Mccreary, B. (2004):
Asymmetrical Effects of Introduced Bullfrogs (Rana
catesbeiana) on Native Ranid Frogs in Oregon. Copeia 1: 1120.
Rocha-Miranda, F., Martins-Silva, M., Mendona, A. (2006): First
occurrence of bull frogs (Rana catesbeiana) in Federal District,
Central Brazil. Froglog 74: 23.
Silva, E.T., Ribeiro -Filho, O.P., Feio, R.N. (2011): Predation of
native anurans by invasive bullfrogs in southeastern Brazil:
spatial variation and effect of microhabitat use by prey. South
American Journal of Herpetology 6: 1-10.

Accepted by Mirco Sol;

Managing Editor: Vinicius Caldart