ABSTRACT. Amphibian diversity of Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil. Amphibian species from Mato Grosso do Sul state were compiled and checked for the fi rst time. A total of 97 species were recorded, representing more than 10% of the known Brazilian amphibians. Twenty fi ve anuran genera in nine families and only one caecilian were recorded. Cerrado was the richest area followed by semideciduous forests, Chaco, and veredas (palm swamps). It was recorded 56 species in fl oodplain areas and 92 in the surrounding cerrados. The Serra da Bodoquena National Park and some Pantanal areas were better sampled than other regions in Mato Grosso do Sul, resulting in sampling gaps across the state. Important areas for future inventories were identifi ed: mountainous regions in Serra de Maracaju and those bordering the Apa river, Brazilian chacoan areas, the Taquari river alluvial fan, the broad Taquari-Itiquira fl at area, the Central Plateau scarps, wet areas from Parana river bordering São Paulo state, and inland areas from Pantanal.KEYWORDS. Amphibia, inventories, biodiversity, Biota-MS Program.RESUMO. A fauna de anfíbios do estado de Mato Grosso do Sul foi compilada e elaborada pela primeira vez, totalizando 97 espécies, o que representa pouco mais de 10% das espécies que ocorrem no Brasil. Nove famílias e 25 gêneros de Anura e apenas uma espécie de Gymnophiona foram registradas. As áreas de Cerrado apresentaram a maior riqueza, seguidas pelas fl orestas estacionais semideciduais, Chaco e veredas. Em relação às macrorregiões consideradas, foram registradas 56 espécies para a planície de inundação (majoritariamente representada pelo Pantanal) e 92 para o planalto. As regiões mais amostradas em Mato Grosso do Sul são o Parque Nacional da Serra da Bodoquena e algumas áreas do Pantanal, o que resulta em lacunas de amostragens por todo o estado, principalmente nas regiões norte, leste/sudeste e parte do oeste/sudoeste. Foram identifi cadas áreas consideradas importantes para amostragens em decorrência da complexidade de fi tofi sionomias e relevos encontrados no estado: Maciço do rio Apa, Serra de Maracaju, grande parte do Chaco brasileiro, leque do rio Taquari, planalto do Taquari-Itiquira, escarpas do planalto Central, áreas úmidas/fl orestas estacionais da planície do rio Paraná e áreas interioranas do Pantanal, onde o acesso é difícil.

ABSTRACT. Reptiles of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Data is presented on richness and composition of reptiles from the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS), based on reviews of publications, examination of scientifi c collections and unpublished fi eld data provided by researchers. We recorded 188 species distributed in eight species of Testudines, three Crocodylia and 177 Squamata (16 amphisbaenians, 48 lizards and 113 snakes). Thirteen species have restricted distributions within the state, 13 are restricted to the state and nine are in the process of being described. The diversity of the MS reptiles, even if underestimated, accounts for 25% of the species known to occur in Brazil. The plateau presents 176 species, of which 30% are restricted to this location, while 131 species (6% exclusive) occur in the fl oodplain. The Cerrado is the richest domain in species, although it is the region with the highest sampling gap in the state. The most well-known section is the Midwest MS, which includes the Pantanal. About 40% of the species of reptiles of MS are widely distributed, occurring in at least fi ve of the seven Brazilian domains. The reptiles of MS are more similar to those of the Chaco, probably because the chacoan fauna is very similar to that of the Pantanal, which includes better inventoried portions of MS. Although the Cerrado is the predominant domain in the state, the fact of being poorly sampled justifi es the lower similarity of reptiles from this domain with those of MS, when compared with those of Chaco. Overall, the MS reptile fauna shows greater similarity to that found along the diagonal of open formations of South America. Only 18% of species were assessed by IUCN, which reinforces the need for an assessment of the conservation status of MS reptile species. The north, south and east of the state have not being adequately sampled, which is of concern since these sections have seen signifi cant anthropogenic alteration. For this reason, these areas, especially the north -including the headwaters of rivers which supply the fl oodplain -are indicated as priorities for the completion of inventories of reptiles and creation of areas to protect them.KEYWORDS. Biodiversity, Cerrado, Chaco, herpetofauna, Pantanal, Biota-MS Program.RESUMO. Informações sobre riqueza e composição de répteis pela primeira vez são apresentadas para o Mato Grosso do Sul (MS). A compilação de dados foi baseada em publicações, coleções científi cas e dados disponibilizados por pesquisadores. Foram registradas 188 espécies distribuídas em oito espécies de Testudines, três Crocodylia e 177 Squamata (16 anfi sbenas, 48 sáurios e 113 serpentes). Treze espécies, dentro do estado, possuem distribuição restrita, 13 não são encontradas em outros estados brasileiros e nove estão em processo de descrição. A riqueza de répteis do MS, mesmo que subestimada, corresponde a 25% das espécies conhecidas no Brasil. No planalto estão presentes 176 espécies, das quais 30% foram registradas somente neste local, enquanto que na planície de inundação ocorr...

Summary The association of species distribution and abundance patterns with environmental and spatial variables is often used to identify signatures of niche‐based and spatial processes in metacommunity structures. If there is no association, however, then stochastic processes may be interpreted as a possible factor driving community assembly. We sampled 20 ponds and more than 5800 adult individual anurans in one of the world's largest Neotropical wetland systems, where an annual and unimodal flood pulse is the most important force operating in the landscape. We aimed to determine the relative importance of environmental abiotic factors (pond physical, chemical and morphometric variables) and geographic distance in structuring the metacommunity of aquatic‐breeding anurans during the end of the dry season. We predicted that species composition would be strongly associated with environmental variables (niche‐based processes) and species richness would be positively related to habitat heterogeneity. Moreover, we expected that massive dispersal, promoted by the preceding flood season, would result in low evidence of spatial processes in the metacommunity structure of anurans. Contrary to our prediction, we found minimal association between anuran composition and environmental gradients. Nonetheless, as expected, we found a positive relationship between species richness and environmental heterogeneity, and no spatial signal. Our results suggest that the annual floods increase the probability that species disperse massively and colonise ponds in an unpredictable way. This may be interpreted as a case where stochastic processes are probably the main force structuring the anuran metacommunity in seasonally flooded systems.

Studies on Neotropical aquatic macrophytes have increased in recent decades, however species richness in wetlands of South America is far from being fully known. In addition, studies having an ecological approach are scarce in the Pantanal. Rapid assessments are essential for gaining knowledge of the biodiversity in the region. This study was performed in five sites of the Baía do Castelo, the western border of the Brazilian Pantanal, which included wild-rice patches, floating mats and floating meadows. At each site, plots of 0.5 × 0.5 m were set (n = 137), species of aquatic macrophytes were identified, their coverage was measured and the plot depth was estimated. We recorded 57 species in 26 families, of which Poaceae was the richest. The most frequent and abundant species was Commelina schomburgkiana; the second most frequent was Oryza latifolia,followed by Leersia hexandra, Enydra radicans and Pityrogramma calomelanos. The latter species was second in cover, followed by Pontederia rotundifolia, Eichhornia azurea, E. crassipes and Enydra radicans. These five species and C. schomburgkiana (the most abundant) together represent more than half of the coverage on the lake. Pontederia rotundifolia, Ludwigia helminthorrhiza, Pistia stratiotes, E. azurea, E. crassipes, Enydra radicans and Panicum elephantipes were strongly associated with deeper areas, while Oryza latifolia, Leersia hexandra and Salvinia auriculata were prevalent in shallow areas. Pityrogramma calomelanos, Ludwigia nervosa, Ipomoea alba, Cayaponia podantha, Polygonum acuminatum, Rhynchanthera novemnervia and Ludwigia leptocarpa were highly correlated with floating meadows. The structure of the habitat, natural dynamics and zonation of aquatic vegetation in the Baía do Castelo seems to be influenced by a variation in water levels, which promotes spatial segregation, most likely due to competition and/habitat preference.Keywords: aquatic macrophyte, Upper Paraguay basin, phytosociology, Pontederiaceae, wetland. Estrutura da vegetação aquática em uma grande lagoa, borda oeste do Pantanal brasileiro ResumoEstudos sobre macrófitas aquáticas Neotropicais aumentaram nas últimas décadas; todavia, a riqueza de espécies em áreas úmidas da América do Sul está longe de ser plenamente conhecida. Além disso, trabalhos com abordagem ecológica são escassos no Pantanal. Por essa razão, levantamentos rápidos são essenciais para o conhecimento sobre a biodiversidade. Este estudo foi realizado em cinco pontos na Baía do Castelo, borda oeste do Pantanal brasileiro, os quais incluíram arrozal, camalotal e baceiros. Em cada ponto, foram estabelecidas parcelas 0.5 × 0.5 m (n = 137), onde foram identificadas as espécies de macrófitas aquáticas, estimada a cobertura e tomada a profundidade.

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Understanding the patterns of species distribution and abundance has been at the core of ecology. In general, these patterns are determined by species dispersion as well as by abiotic and biotic environmental conditions. Similarly, host-parasite relations and the structure of parasite assemblages are also shaped by environmental conditions and landscape composition. Herein, we assessed the influence of environmental variables and parasite species dispersion on the structure of helminth parasites communities in the frog Leptodactylus podicipinus. We sampled 10 ponds and recorded area, depth, altitude, pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature, and extent of soil, water, and vegetation cover as well as the distances between the ponds. We collected 121 frogs and found 9 helminth taxa; 2 of them were core species (prevalence higher than 50%), which contributed to the relatively high similarity observed among the ponds. Most of the helminths showed some variation in the frequencies of occurrence among communities from different ponds. The change in species composition among ponds was explained by the environmental variables but not by the distance between the ponds. Moreover, the results indicated that local processes (variation in environmental conditions) were more important than the regional processes (species distribution) in determining the structure of parasite communities. The variation in helminth communities among ponds in response to moderate differences in pond environmental characteristics points to the potential of helminth species as indicators of environmental conditions.

RESUMO.Aranhas caçando sobre flores podem mudar o comportamento de polinizadores e, em consequência, alterar o sucesso reprodutivo das plantas. No entanto, ainda não é perfeitamente conhecido como diferentes grupos de polinizadores reagem à presença de aranhas e em quais circunstâncias ocorre redução no sucesso das plantas. Neste estudo, avaliamos a frequência de visitas florais e o comportamento de abelhas Apis mellifera L. (Apidae) frente ao risco de predação simulado por modelos de aranhas feitos de resina epóxi. A presença destes modelos reduziu o número de visitas em flores de macrófitas aquáticas Ludwigia tomentosa (Cambess.) (Onagraceae) e aumentou a proporção de comportamentos de refugo, em que as abelhas abandonavam repentinamente as flores sem acessar seus nectários. Este resultado sugere que abelhas percebem traços morfológicos de predadores sobre flores, reconhecendo-as como recurso de baixo valor em função do risco de serem predadas.

New northwestern records of the striped treefrog Hypsiboas caingua (Carrizo, 1991(Carrizo, "1990 are presented for Brazil, extending its known geographic distribution approximately 115 km northward (linear distance) of the previous northernmost record of the species. In all new localities, individuals of H. caingua were only found in calling activity under temperatures below 18ºC. The species appears to be associated with Atlantic Forest, although it had already been recorded in Cerrado. Although the scientific literature data suggests that H. caingua presents discontinuous geographical distribution, three methods of distribution modelling based on climatic data show that the species' distribution is continuous. The gap in the distribution may be related to the lack of field surveys in the regions that connect these populations, especially in colder periods. Nevertheless, factors other than climate might also be responsible for the current distribution of H. caingua, since the species was absent in well-surveyed sites situated between the areas of modeled distribution. Therefore, further studies on natural history, populations' genetic structure, and geographic distribution models implementing factors other than climate will be important to elucidate some ecological and evolutionary aspects of the distribution of H. caingua in South America.Keywords: Central-Southern Brazil, Cerrado, striped treefrog, species distribution modelling (SDM), low temperatures. Uso de novos registros ao norte para a modelagem de distribuição deHypsiboas caingua (Anura: Hylidae) na América do Sul ResumoNovos registros da perereca Hypsiboas caingua (Carrizo, 1991(Carrizo, "1990 são apresentados para o noroeste do Brasil, ampliando sua distribuição geográfica em aproximadamente 115 km ao norte (distância linear) em relação ao registro anterior setentrional da espécie. Em todas as novas localidades, indivíduos de H. caingua foram apenas encontrados vocalizando sob temperaturas abaixo de 18 ºC. A espécie aparenta estar associada com a Mata Atlântica, embora já tenha sido registrada no Cerrado. Apesar de dados da literatura científica sugerirem que H. caingua apresente distribuição geográfica descontínua, os três métodos de modelagem de distribuição, baseados em dados climáticos demonstram que a distribuição da espécie é contínua. A lacuna na distribuição pode estar relacionada à ausência de levantamentos de campo nas regiões que conectam essas populações, principalmente em períodos frios. Contudo, outros fatores além do climático também podem ser responsáveis pela atual distribuição de H. caingua, visto a ausência da espécie em locais bem amostrados situados entre as áreas de distribuição modeladas. Portanto, mais estudos sobre a história natural, genética de populações e modelos de distribuição geográfica que abordem outros fatores além do clima, serão importantes para elucidar alguns aspectos ecológicos e evolucionários da distribuição de H. caingua na América do Sul.Palavras-chave: Centro-Sul do Brasil, Cerrado, striped treefro...