Basking behaviour and ultraviolet B radiation exposure in a wild population of pelophylax lessonae in northern Italy

Amphibians are facing catastrophic global declines under pressure from a variety of threats. Many of these are so acute and poorly understood that ex-situ conservation has been employed where in-situ efforts may be unable to act quickly enough to save species in the wild. However, our knowledge of the captive requirements of most amphibians is unknown or poorly understood and this knowledge gap jeopardises the success of ex-situ programs. A lack of data from the habitat of wild populations underpins many husbandry failures in captivity, as without it husbandry is based on best guess. Ultraviolet B radiation has been shown to be critical in the care of many reptile species, but its importance to amphibians is not well understood. We present the first data on UV-B exposure and basking behaviour in wild amphibians, using Pelophylax lessonae as a model species. We show that wild frogs inhabit a UV-B microclimate defined by physical features of their habitat and by the basking behaviour of the animals themselves. This data may encourage the future gathering of such wild environmental data, which could be fed directly into ex-situ programs. © 2013 British Herpetological Society.