Clutch size is an important life history trait in amphibians, and it varies among and within species, populations and individuals. Within a population, its variation has been attributed to a positive relationship between females’ age or size and their fecundity as well as to spatio-temporal differences in environmental conditions. Therefore, clutch size has been shown to be both spatially and seasonally variable. We examined spatial and seasonal clutch size variation based upon two years of study involving 160 clutches of the Agile Frog Rana dalmatina Bonaparte, 1840 in 14 ponds within one spoil bank in the Czech Republic’s North Bohemian brown coal basin. The overall mean clutch size was 1295 (SD 596), which is one of the largest that has been reported. However, both clutch size and its variance differed considerably between the years. Clutch size also varied among the ponds. We found no relationship between clutch size and the distance of a breeding pond from alluvial forest, a typical wintering habitat. Despite existence at the site of many suitable reproduction habitats, the spoil bank does not offer the complex of all habitats needed for persistence of the R. dalmatina population. To protect that population, it is necessary to preserve not only breeding ponds on the spoil bank but also alluvial forest and, most importantly, the connectivity between these two crucial habitats.
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