Table 3.

Distribution of environmental variables across puddles in 2004 and 2005

Environmental variables	2004			2005			Difference
% connected puddles	0·71			0·71			n.s.
% puddles with tracks	0·76			0·80			n.s.
% dried puddles	0·57			0·50			n.s.
Vegetation cover†	0·43	0·52	0·05	0·55	0·40	0·05	n.s.
Sunlight intensity‡	0	0·33	0·67	0·05	0·60	0·35	n.s.
Mean number of connections§	3·8 ± 2·8			2·2 ± 0·4			n.s.
Mean plant density	97·4 ± 73·2			52 ± 48·7			*

The environmental variables are the connection status (% of connected puddles), indication of animal or human disturbance (% of puddles with tracks), presence of water (% of dried puddles), ground vegetation cover, sunlight intensity, mean number of connections and mean plant density per quadrat (the asterisk indicates a significant difference between the 2 years, P < 0·05).

In 2005, one puddle went extinct and environmental data were not recorded.

^† Distribution of vegetation cover across puddles, with three classes: low, medium and high.

^‡ Distribution of sunlight intensity across puddles, with three classes: low, medium and high.

^§ For connected puddles only.