DOI: 10.5061/dryad.42kp3
title: Data from: Spatial patterns of the frog Oophaga pumilio in a plantation system are consistent with conspecific attraction

description: The conspecific attraction hypothesis predicts that individuals are
 attracted to conspecifics because conspecifics may be cues to quality
 habitat and/or colonists may benefit from living in aggregations. Poison
 frogs (Dendrobatidae) are aposematic, territorial, and visually oriented –
 three characteristics which make dendrobatids an appropriate model to test
 for conspecific attraction. In this study, we tested this hypothesis using
 an extensive mark-recapture dataset of the strawberry poison frog (Oophaga
 pumilio) from La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. Data were collected
 from replicate populations in a relatively homogenous Theobroma cacao
 plantation, which provided a unique opportunity to test how conspecifics
 influence spatial ecology of migrants in a controlled habitat with
 homogeneous structure. We predicted that (1) individuals entering a
 population would aggregate with resident adults, (2) migrants would share
 sites with residents at greater frequency than expected by chance, and (3)
 migrant home-ranges would have shorter nearest-neighbor distances (NND) to
 residents than expected by chance. The results were consistent with these
 three predictions: relative to random simulations, we observed significant
 aggregation, home-range overlap, and NND distribution functions in four,
 five, and six, respectively, of the six migrant-resident groups analyzed.
 Conspecific attraction may benefit migrant O. pumilio by providing cues to
 suitable home sites and/or increasing potential for social interactions
 with conspecifics; if true, these benefits should outweigh the negative
 effects of other factors associated with aggregation. The observed
 aggregation between migrant and resident O. pumilio is consistent with
 conspecific attraction in dendrobatid frogs, and our study provides rare
 support from a field setting that conspecific attraction may be a relevant
 mechanism for models of anuran spatial ecology.
description: Oophaga-pumilio-in-cacao-dataThis file contains data associated with an 18-month demographic study of the Strawberry Poison Frog (Oophaga pumilio) from an abandoned cacao plantation in northeastern Costa Rica. During the study, four replicate plots were repeatedly visited during each month and surveyed for frogs. During surveys, each frog observed was then captured, identified to sex, measured, marked uniquely, and then released. The first tab describes the number of surveys made in plots, how many individuals were observed, and what proportion were new individuals/recaptures from previous surveys. The second tab contains data describing observations of each frogs made during the surveys (individual mark, sex, size, location). The third tab contains information about habitat within plots. The fourth tab contains information about how the grid system was organized in plots.pumilio-cacao-for-dryad.xlsxoophaga-pumilio-r-scriptThis is an annotated R script that we developed to analyze the data. More details for the analysis are included in our manuscript.