Effects of a fire on a population of treefrogs (Scinax cf. alter, Lutz) in a restinga habitat in southern Brazil

Abstract

The area of the Dunas da Joaquina, in Santa Catarina island, contains one of the most important remnants of restinga habitat in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil. In December 2003, a fire occurred in a portion of this area, affecting most of the vegetation, including the bromeliad community. In this study, the density of individuals and the diet composition of the bromelicolous treefrog Scinax cf. alter were compared between the area affected by the fire and an adjacent unburned area. One-hundred-and-fifty-eight ground bromeliads (Vriesea friburguensis) were dissected and searched for the presence of treefrogs among their leaves. We found 30 frogs in 29.5% (23/78) of the bromeliads from the unburned site, with a mean of 1.3 frogs per rosette, and 15 frogs in 12.5% (10/80) of the bromeliads from the burned site, with a mean of 1.6 frogs per rosette. Eight (27%) of the frogs from the unburned site and eleven (73%) of those from the burned site had empty stomachs. Frogs from the burned site also contained less prey per stomach than those from the unburned site. The data suggest that the fire has negatively affected the local population of Scinax cf. alter, though it is possible that the population can recover.Keywords: bromeliad, disturbance, fire, restinga, Anura, Scinax cf. alter. Efeitos de uma queimada em uma população de pererecas (Scinax cf. alter) em um habitat de restinga no sul do Brasil ResumoA área das Dunas da Joaquina, na Ilha de Santa Catarina, contém um dos remanescentes mais importantes de habitat de restinga no Estado de Santa Catarina, no Sul do Brasil. Em dezembro de 2003, ocorreu uma queimada em uma porção desta área, afetando a maior parte da vegetação, incluindo a comunidade de bromélias. Neste estudo, comparamos a densidade de indivíduos e a composição da dieta da perereca bromelícola Scinax cf. alter entre a área afetada pelo fogo e a uma área adjacente que não foi afetada. Cento e cinqüenta e oito bromélias de chão (Vriesea friburguensis) foram dissecadas e examinadas quanto à presença de pererecas entre suas folhas. Foram encontradas 30 pererecas em 29,5% (23/78) das bromélias da área não-queimada, com uma média de 1,3 indivíduos por roseta; e 15 pererecas em 12,5% (10/80) das bromélias da área queimada, com uma média de 1,6 indivíduos por roseta. Oito (27%) dos animais da área não-queimada; e onze (73%) dos da área queimada estavam com o estômago vazio. As pererecas da área queimada também tiveram menos presas por estômago que as da área não-queimada. Os dados sugerem que o fogo afetou negativamente a população local de Scinax cf. alter, embora seja possível a sua recuperação.

Taxonomic Revision of the Scinax alter Species Complex (Anura: Hylidae)

“…During the breeding season, individuals are found along the margins of ponds and lakes located in open areas and forest edges (Kwet and Di-Bernardo, 1999;. Scinax tymbamirim is also abundant in terrestrial or arboreal bromeliads (e.g., Aechmea nudicaulis, Neoregelia cruenta), especially when inhabiting restinga environments (Carvalho-e- Silva et al, 2000;Van Sluys et al, 2004;Rocha et al, 2008b;present work). A ''dwarf population'' of S. tymbamirim from restinga habitats on the island of Santa Catarina (''Dunas da Joaquina,'' Municipality of Florianó polis, Santa Catarina) is bromelicolous, living in terrestrial bromeliads, i.e., Vriesea friburguensis (AK, unpubl.…”

Diet and resource partitioning among anurans in irrigated rice fields in Pantanal, Brazil

“…For generalist anurans, aspects such as phylogeny, foraging mode, prey availability and abundance, and morphological constraints for capture and ingestion of a given prey type can be related to resource partitioning among species (Lima, 1998;Lima and Magnusson, 1998;França et al, 2004;Santos et al, 2004). Furthermore, community niche differentiation can be influenced by human induced environmental changes, which may affect ecological interactions (Caldwell and Vitt, 1999;Albrech and Gotelli, 2001;Rocha et al, 2008).…”

A summary of reptile and anuran amphibian species from Brazilian sandy coastal plains: 31 years of sampling efforts of the “Laboratório de Ecologia de Vertebrados, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro”

“…Another study evaluated frog species richness, community composition and β-diversity in ten sites along the coasts of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo and Bahia states, showing that beta-diversity of frogs change along the coast and that the rate of species turnover was partially affected by the geographical distance among areas (Rocha et al, 2008d). We also produced data regarding the important effects of fire on local anuran fauna in some areas: Rocha et al (2008a) estimated the impact of a fire on Scinax tymbamirim (= S. cf. alter; see Nunes et al, 2012) at Dunas da Joaquina, in Santa Catarina state, by comparing data on the density and diet composition of the frogs in the area affected by the fire and in an adjacent area that had not been burned.…”