Arboreal Habitat Use and Parachuting by a Subtropical Forest Frog

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Abstract
Eleutherodactylus coqui in the Luquillo Experimental Forest of Puerto Rico uses most of the vertical spectrum of its habitat at some time during life. Weather permitting, subadults, small adults, a few adult males, and non-breeding females climb tree trunks at dusk to forage in the canopy. Most adult males remain on understory call sites during the night. Juveniles remain in retreats or on vegetation near the ground. At dawn, frogs parachute to the ground, then return to diurnal retreats on or near the ground. Of subadults and adults counted in transects in July-August, approximately 43% climbed to the canopy at dusk, 39% in January. Significantly more frogs climb after wet days than after dry days in both seasons.