[Aroid-l] RE: aroidiphyllic frogs (Peter Matthews)


-----Original Message-----
Date: Tue, 5 Apr 2005 09:14:14 +0900
From: Peter Matthews <pjm@gol.com>
Subject: RE: [Aroid-l] aroidiphyllic frogs
To: Discussion of aroids <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com>
Message-ID: <a06110401be77877768c2@[172.17.10.39]>
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Dear Deni and others,

In Japan, where taro is widely cultivated but not native, it is 
common in the wet season (spring/early summer) to see small green 
frogs perched on taro leaves. Taro has to be given lots of water 
through the dry end of summer, so it is natural for frogs to 
congregate in the vicinity, even though the habitat is entirely 
synthetic.

Peter


Reminds me of some of my own observations in my Aroideana article a couple years ago, in which flooded taro paddies (on a small island off Taiwan) were inhabited by various wetland fauna.  It seems to me that this particular agroecosystem may prove especially valuable in places where natural wetlands are dwindling.  A taro paddy may not be as biologically diverse as a wild marsh, but for those wetland-dependent species who can adapt to it, it is better than no wetlands at all.

Jason Hernandez
Naturalist-at-Large
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