Wood frog (Rana sylatica) egg masses visible just below the water surface of a newly thawed temperate pond in spring.

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Soon after temperate ponds thaw and fill with melting snow, wood frogs (Rana sylatica) lay their spherical egg masses and attach them to vegetation just below the water surface. Compared to some salamander species, wood frogs have less of a jelly layer to protect them from infection by water molds. Wood frogs lay their eggs when ponds are still cold and mold grows more slowly. Wood frogs can have a beneficial effect on toad species, since they eat water mold off of egg masses. This photograph originally appeared on the cover of Ecology (87:10) in October of 2006.

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Primary or BEN resource type	Photograph
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Format	jpeg
Ecological Core Concept	Populations -- Life history traits and reproduction Populations Interspecific interactions -- Parasitism and disease Interspecific interactions
Drought & Water-Ecosystem Services Collection	Off
Conservation Targets Under Global Change Collection	Off
Big Data Collection	Off
Editor's Choice	No
Audience	Undergraduate upper division 15-16 Undergraduate lower division 13-14
Pedagogical Use Description	This photograph can be used to illustrate frog egg masses or reproduction in temperate ponds.
Keywords	disease, infection, egg, egg mass, amphibian, temperature, pong, thaw, spring
Key taxa	Wood frog, Rana sylvatica, water mold
Life science discipline (subject)	Ecology
Primary Author Controlled Name	Justin Touchon
Primary Author Affiliation	Department of Biology, jtouchon@bu.edu
Primary Author email	jtouchon@bu.edu
Rights	Copyright 2006 by the Ecological Society of America.
Resource Editor	Unknown
Reviewer A	Unknown
Reviewer B	Unknown
Date Of Record Submission	2008-04-07

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