Diversity and associations between coastal habitats and anurans in southernmost Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed to verify the relationship between habitat and the composition of anuran species in dune and restinga habitats in southernmost Brazil. The habitats were sampled between April 2009 and March 2010 using pitfalls with drift fence. We have captured 13,508 individuals of 12 anuran species. Species richness was lower in the dunes and dominance was higher in the resting. Apparently the less complex plant cover, water availability, and wide daily thermal variation in dunes act as an environmental fi lter for frogs. This hypothesis is reinforced by the fact that the most abundant species (Physalaemus biligonigerus frogs. This hypothesis is reinforced by the fact that the most abundant species (Physalaemus biligonigerus frogs. This hypothesis is reinforced by the fact that the most abundant species ( and Odonthoprynus maisuma) bury themselves in the sand, minimizing these environmental stresses. Despite being in the Pampa biome, the studied community was more similar to those of coastal restinga environment of southeast Brazil than with other of the Pampa biome. The number of recorded species is similar to those observed in other open habitats in Brazil, showing the importance of adjacent ones to the shoreline for the maintenance of the diversity of anurans in southernmost Brazil.

Seasonality in anuran activity and calling season in a Brazilian subtemperate wetland

“…Other activities performed by anurans, such as dispersion, migration, or foraging, also appear to respond primarily to climatic variables. A wide range of methods are currently available for evaluating anuran activity, and the capture rate is the most frequently used indicator of general activity (Oliveira et al 2013;Martins et al 2014). Indeed, capture rate is an indirect measure of any activity performed by animals on the surface of a substrate (e.g., foraging, habitat exploration, dispersal, and migrations), as such activities increase their capture probability.…”

“…Less attention has been dedicated to subtemperate open habitats, such as wetlands. Southern Brazilian wetlands possess unique climatic characteristics, such as colder winters, in comparison with other Brazilian regions (Huckembeck et al 2012;Oliveira et al 2013). Given the divergent opinions regarding the effects of climatic factors on the activity patterns of anurans (Oseen and Wassersug 2002;Saenz et al 2006), transitional climatic regions represent an important natural laboratory for testing ecological hypotheses concerning the evolutionary process in ectotherms.…”

“…Given the divergent opinions regarding the effects of climatic factors on the activity patterns of anurans (Oseen and Wassersug 2002;Saenz et al 2006), transitional climatic regions represent an important natural laboratory for testing ecological hypotheses concerning the evolutionary process in ectotherms. In most Brazilian habitats (and other tropical areas), there is a small annual thermal amplitude (Maluf 2000), and precipitation appears to be the main determining factor of anuran activity patterns (Heyer 1973;Boquimpani-Freitas et al 2007;Oliveira et al 2013). However, in temperate climate regions, annual temperature variation appears to be the main factor that determines ectothermic activity (Gilbert et al 1994;Navas and Bevier 2001;Oseen and Wassersug 2002).…”

Estrutura e organização espacial de duas comunidades de anuros do bioma Pampa

“…Os estudos envolvendo ecologia de comunidades de anuros existentes no Bioma Pampa, historicamente, estão concentrados na região da Planície Costeira (e.g., colomBo et al, 2008;maltcHik et al, 2008;moreira et al, 2008;macHado & maltcHik, 2009;macHado et al, 2012;oliveira et al, 2013), enquanto as fisionomias campestres interioranas permaneceram pouco exploradas exceto pelos estudos de santos et al (2008) na Depressão Central, BotH et al (2011) na Serra do Sudeste e di- Bernardo et al (2002) na região da Campanha. Apesar do crescente número de estudos, o conhecimento acerca dos padrões de composição, diversidade e distribuição espacial dos anuros desta região ainda são escassos.…”

Leptodactylus chaquensis Cei, 1950 (Leptodactylidae, Leptodactylinae): extension of the distribution in state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil

“…locally known as "coxilhas" (Dantas et al, 2010). Therefore, considering the present and previous records and the considerable effort on anurofauna sampling in RS coastal plain (e.g Braun and Braun, 1980;Gayer et al, 1988;Loebmann and Vieira, 2005;Colombo et al, 2008;Oliveira et al, 2013), the distribution of L. chaquensis in Brazilian Pampa may be restricted to Pre-Cambrian geological formations and the southern Paraná Basin.…”