Bull Frog Diet of The Mora River

Invasive species are the single most important conservation problem at the species level. When a new species colonizes a new habitat, it finds good conditions since the local organisms do not have an evolutionary history exposure to the invaders. Potential prey has not evolved defenses against the newcomer and predators do not recognize it as prey. American bullfrog (Lithobates castebiana) was introduced in Northern New Mexico more than 50 years ago. Its impact on the local fauna has been quite important driving to extinction many local populations of native species. In this Study we set out to assess the impact that the bullfrog predation on the local wildlife. We studied the diet of 268 via analyzing their stomach content. Surprisingly we did not find any of the native amphibians in the diet of the bullfrogs. In fact, an invasive species of crayfish seems to be the dominant prey item in their diet. We hypothesize that local populations of leopard frogs might have evolved behavioral avoidance of bullfrog predation. The potential use of this population to restock places where leopard frogs have gone extinct is an appealing, and seemingly possible, alternative.