Breeding in Mountain Tops: Water Velocity Determines Oviposition Site Selection of the Chinting Alpine Toad in Streams

<p indent="0mm">For oviparous species with little or no parental care, oviposition site choice may be a powerful agent of natural selection, playing an important role in the evolution of species fitness and life history. Identifying and clarifying the microhabitat characteristics of oviposition sites are key to understanding life history strategies and local adaptations for amphibians with complex biphasic life cycles. However, oviposition strategies for amphibians in alpine streams remain poorly understood. Here, we focused on oviposition site selection for the Chinting alpine toad (<italic>Scutiger chintingensis</italic>) on Mount Wawu on the eastern margin of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. We identified the microhabitat differences between oviposition sites and non-oviposition sites for this species, predicted oviposition site selection patterns, and evaluated the relative importance of each microhabitat variable as well as the effects of the variables on the model prediction probabilities. This study revealed that the microhabitat characteristics of oviposition sites in this species included high water velocity, shallow water, and high-water surface coverage. Water velocity and rock volume were the most important variables explaining the categories of oviposition sites. Additionally, we observed nearly half the proportion of overlapping oviposition in this species, and the benefits of this behavior in terms of microhabitat characteristics need to be explored in the future. Our study revealed an oviposition site selection strategy for amphibians within alpine streams, and contributed to understanding the life history and environmental adaptation strategies of an endemic alpine stream species, and thereby providing guidance for effective conservation strategies for alpine stream amphibians under global change. <?Pub Caret 11?>