Habitat preference of the endangered Nagoya Daruma Pond Frog （<i>Pelophylax porosus brevipodus</i>） in paddy levees and fallow paddy fields of Kurashiki, Okayama, western Japan.

<p>To clarify the environmental factors affecting the distribution of the endangered Nagoya Daruma Pond Frog （Pelophylax porosus brevipodus） in paddy levees and fallow paddy fields, we conducted field surveys at 23 study stations in Kurashiki, Okayama, western Japan. Based on the agricultural calendar in the study site, we set five investigation periods of ʻbefore midsummer drainageʼ, ʻduring midsummer drainageʼ, ʻafter midsummer drainageʼ, ʻbefore harvestʼ and ʻafter harvestʼ between July and November 2017. In the paddy levees during the investigation periods between ʻduring midsummer drainageʼ and ʻbefore harvestʼ, the effects of physical environmental factors on the number of frog individuals collected were analyzed with generalized linear models （GLM）. The total number of individuals of P. p. brevipodus collected in the paddy levees during all the investigation periods was maximum before midsummer drainage, and decreased until after harvest. On the other hand, in the fallow paddy fields, the total number of frog individuals was maximum before midsummer drainage and then decreased until after midsummer drainage, but increased before harvest and then decreased after harvest. The results of GLM indicate that the coverage of plant stems, leaves and litter and coverage of prostrate plants have positive effects on the habitat preference of P. p. brevipodus. These results indicate that P. p. brevipodus utilizes not only paddy levees, but also fallow paddy fields as a habitat and that the habitat utilization is different between paddy levees and fallow paddy fields in relation to the agricultural calendar. Our results also indicate that coverage of vegetation in paddy levees should be more than 60% for conservation of populations of P. p. brevipodus.</p>