The species Boana bischoffi and Boana marginata are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, where they often occur in sympatry. There is a large gap in the knowledge of natural history of both species. In this study, we aimed to describe and compare the diet composition of B. bischoffi and B. marginata in the southern domain of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We analyzed the gastrointestinal contents of 43 individuals of B. bischoffi and 30 individuals of B. marginata. Both showed a high trophic niche overlap (0.90 O jk ). The most important prey categories for both species belonged to the orders Araneae and Coleoptera. The species niche breadth (Bsta) varied from 0.35 to 0.42, suggesting a generalist feeding behavior for both species. Our data provide unprecedented information on these species' food composition, contributing to a better knowledge of the natural history of neotropical anurans. Dieta e sobreposição de nicho trófico deBoana bischoffi e Boana marginata (Anura: Hylidae) no sul do Brasil Resumo: As espécies Boana bischoffi e Boana marginata, são endêmicas da Mata Atlântica onde frequentemente ocorrem em simpatria. Existe uma grande lacuna no conhecimento da história natural de ambas as espécies. Nesse estudo, nosso objetivo foi descrever e comparar a composição da dieta de B. bischoffi e B. marginata no limite sul da Mata Atlântica brasileira. Analisamos o conteúdo gastrointestinal de 43 indivíduos de B. bischoffi e 30 indivíduos de B. marginata. Ambas apresentaram elevada sobreposição de seus nichos tróficos (0,90 O jk ). As categorias de presas mais importantes para ambas as espécies pertenciam as ordens Araneae e Coleoptera. A amplitude de nicho das espécies (Bsta) variou de 0,35 a 0,42, sugerindo comportamento alimentar generalista para ambas. Nossos dados trazem informações inéditas sobre a composição alimentar destas espécies, contribuindo para um maior conhecimento da história natural dos anuros neotropicais.
Species richness and abundance, as well as trophic relationships, are affected by habitat configuration. Smaller habitat patches suffer greater external interference, being more susceptible to diversity loss and could also receive more trophic subsidies from outside or matrix, which can favour the maintenance of populations even in small patches. Natural mosaics of forest patches in a grassland matrix in southern Brazil are good places to analyse such a process. Our objective was to analyse the effect of habitat patching on trophic relationships based on the evaluation of two forest amphibian species (Physalaemus lisei and P. carrizorum) and compare those from habitat patches versus core/contiguous habitat. We compared isotopic carbon (d 13 C) and nitrogen ratios (d 15 N) in two anuran species as well the variation in their diet at different forest patch sizes. We chose carbon isotopes since they act as a proxy for inferences on the original habitat from which the matter flows towards the anurans, while nitrogen reveals their tropic level. Our results revealed that trophic sources for these amphibians derives predominantly from primary forest productivity. However, Physalaemus lisei d 13 C values indicated that the contribution of grassland trophic sources in the diet was higher in frogs from forests patches (<100 ha) than in those from core forest habitat. In smaller patches, P. lisei consumed predominantly ants, which was the most abundant prey on habitat. On the other hand, in the core forest, where isopods were the most abundant prey, most of its consumption was beetles, spiders and ants. In contrast, P. carrizorum showed no significant changes in isotopic ratios or diet across habitats. Isotopic data suggested that both species occupied lower trophic levels in smaller forests than in core forests. Our data showed a tendency towards the increase of grassland contribution and decrease of amphibian trophic position in patched habitats in comparison to continuous habitat.
The importance of amphibian bioacoustics is widely documented in ecological, taxonomical and evolutionary studies, as calls might act as a primary mechanism of reproductive isolation. The influence of air temperature and male size on the variation of the advertisement calls in anurans is widely recognized but still insufficiently analyzed in Brazilian species.Our goals were to (1) describe the advertisement call of Aplastodiscus albosignatus (Lutz & Lutz, 1938), (2) test the influence of temperature and body size on its acoustic signals and (3) evaluate the variation of within and between-male acoustic signals. Advertisement calls of A. albosignatus consist of an unpulsed note with four harmonics. In most cases, the dominant frequency is the third harmonic but, in some calls, it was the minimum frequency (first harmonic). The average duration of calls was 0.191 s, the interval between calls was 2.08 s and the repetition rate was 33 calls per minute. On average, the minimum frequency was 550.15 Hz, the maximum frequency was 3531.70 Hz and the third harmonic was 2498.9 Hz. To evaluate the effect of air temperature, and body size on the variation of call parameters, we performed generalized linear models. The most explanatory model for spectral parameters was temperature plus body size. Concerning temporal variables, the best model that explains the variation in call duration was body size, while for the interval between calls was air temperature. The maximum frequency and the frequency of the third harmonic had little variation in the calls of both the same male and different males. Thus, these parameters were considered important in species recognition.
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