Aspects of the Biology and Zoogeography of the Pine Barrens Treefrog (Hyla andersonii) in Northern Florida

Florida populations of the pine barrens treefrog, Hyla andersonii Baird, are the first ones reported from the Gulf Coastal Plain, ≈ 750 km SW of the nearest known populations in South Carolina. The geographic distribution of the species appears to be fragmented into three disjunct enclaves (New Jersey, North and South Carolina, Florida) spanning 10° latitude and ≈ 1500 km in the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain of the United States. Florida populations differ slightly from other populations in the quality of their color pattern, mating call, and in a discriminant analysis of 11 body measurements and 2 ratios. In Florida, ♂ ♂ call from April to September; larvae were found from mid-June to early September. Laboratory reared larvae reached adult size in 1 year; 206 eggs from one ♀ hatched in 72 hours at 25°C. F1hybrids from an experimental crossing (H. andersonii ♂ × H. cinerea ♀) died at different stages of development, but several (both normal and malformed) survived a few months beyond metamorphosis, showing all degrees of resemblance to both parents. The breeding habitat is acid hillside seepage bogs, or shrub bogs, agreeing in physiognomy but not necessarily in terrestrial plant species composition with northern breeding sites. A model for the postglacial dynamic zoogeography of Hyla andersonii is based on arguments that the acid seepage bog breeding habitat is a critically limiting factor in the local occurrence of the species. Survival of Florida populations is presently considered to be endangered.