Linking environmental drivers with amphibian species diversity in ponds from subtropical grasslands

Abstract

Amphibian distribution patterns are known to be influenced by habitat diversity at breeding sites. Thus, breeding sites variability and how such variability influences anuran diversity is important. Here, we examine which characteristics at breeding sites are most influential on anuran diversity in grasslands associated with Araucaria forest, southern Brazil, especially in places at risk due to anthropic activities. We evaluate the associations between habitat heterogeneity and anuran species diversity in nine body of water from September 2008 to March 2010, in 12 field campaigns in which 16 species of anurans were found. Of the seven habitat descriptors we examined, water depth, pond surface area and distance to the nearest forest fragment explained 81% of total species diversity. Water depth, margin vegetation type, surface area and distance to the next body of water explained between 31-74% of the variance in abundance of nine of the 16 species. Thus, maintenance of body of water, of the vegetation along the water edge and natural forest fragments in the grasslands, along with fire control (used to renovation of pasture), are fundamentally important for the maintenance of anuran species diversity through the conservation of their breeding sites.

Influence of habitat heterogeneity on anuran diversity in Restinga landscapes of the Parnaíba River delta, northeastern Brazil

“…Earlier studies highlighted the importance of pond size and edge vegetation to anuran diversity ( Parris and McCarthy 1999 , Burne and Griffin 2005 , Bastazini et al 2007 , Vieira et al 2007 , Xavier and Napoli 2011 , Dória et al 2015 , Gonçalves et al 2015 ). Furthermore, microenvironments composed of vernal pools with different edge vegetation structures and percentage of vegetation cover on water surface better explained the different compositions of anuran communities in Parnaíba River Delta.…”

Integrating alpha, beta, and phylogenetic diversity to understand anuran fauna along environmental gradients of tropical forests in western Ecuador

“…Others have found that the species richness of amphibians is influenced by factors such as temperature, geography, and precipitation (e.g., Ortiz‐Yusty et al, ; Soares & Brito, ). Nonetheless, these factors are not the only studied, other studies have also found that anuran diversity has been determined as a response to either different types of vegetation, distance to water bodies or environmental heterogeneity (e.g., Goncalves, Crivellari, & Conte, ; Ribeiro et al, ). Here, from the regression analysis, we also found that precipitation could have a strong effect on the diversity of amphibians (SR‐PD; Figure , Figure ).…”

Seasonal variation in the composition of ground-dwelling anuran (Amphibia) assemblages in southern Brazil

“…Andropogon lateralis and Aristida jubata), the increase in biomass production and the recruitment/regrowth of woody plants during warm months (Soares et al, 2005;Overbeck et al, 2006). The grassland vegetation structure offers a great diversity of food items, calling sites, and shelters (for protection from predation and high solar exposure) for grassland-specialist anurans (Xavier and Napoli, 2011;Gonçalves et al, 2015). Grasslands are of major importance for Leptodactylidae anurans which include grassland-specialist species (e.g.…”

“…It has been suggested that seasonality in temperature, photoperiod and rainfall might control the peaks of anuran reproduction and richness in subtropical and temperate regions, whereas abundant rainfall might sustain continuous anuran reproduction in tropical regions Both et al, 2008;Canavero et al, 2008). Further, climate seasonality can differentially influence the vegetation heterogeneity and resource quality of an area, as the effects of climate seasonality depend on the habitat type (Maragno et al, 2013;Gonçalves et al, 2015). Here, we evaluated the seasonal variations in the composition of anuran assemblages from forest and grassland habitats, which are two habitats differently influenced by climate seasonality.…”

“…Plant architecture, phenology and tolerance to climate seasonality influences the vertical and horizontal stratification of habitats, which in turn alters the niche availability within forest and grassland habitats, offering differential opportunities for anuran reproduction, habitat selection, predator avoidance and food intake (Urbina-Cardona et al, 2006;Both et al, 2008;Oliveira et al, 2013;Gonçalves et al, 2015). The main seasonal changes in the forest structure are due to increases in tree flowering, fruiting and litter production, but not in canopy cover (Liebsch and Mikich, 2009;Longhi et al, 2011).…”