Amphibians of Serra Bonita, southern Bahia: a new hotpoint within Brazil’s Atlantic Forest hotspot

Abstract

We studied the amphibian community of the Private Reserve of Natural Heritage (RPPN) Serra Bonita, an area of 20 km2 with steep altitudinal gradients (200–950 m a.s.l.) located in the municipalities of Camacan and Pau-Brasil, southern Bahia State, Brazil. Data were obtained at 38 sampling sites (including ponds and transects within the forest and in streams), through active and visual and acoustic searches, pitfall traps, and opportunistic encounters. We recorded 80 amphibian species distributed in 15 families: Aromobatidae (1), Brachycephalidae (3), Bufonidae (4), Centrolenidae (2), Ceratophryidae (1), Craugastoridae (7), Eleutherodactylidae (2), Hemiphractidae (2), Hylidae (42), Hylodidae (1), Leptodactylidae (7), Microhylidae (3), Siphonopidae (1), Odontophrynidae (3) and Pipidae (1). Species richness was positively correlated with monthly rainfall. Near 36% of the species were found in strictly forest environments, 15% are endemic to Bahia State and 77.2% are endemic to the Atlantic Forest biome. The large species diversity of this small area, the high degree of endemism and the taxonomic and biogeographic significance turn the Serra Bonita mountain into a hotpoint for amphibians within Brazil’s Atlantic Forest hotspot.

Amphibians of the Reserva Ecológica Michelin: a high diversity site in the lowland Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil

“…Fourteen of the 69 recorded species ( Frostius erythrophthalmus , “ Eleutherodactylus ” bilineatus , Adelophryne cf. pachydactyla, A. mucronatus , Gastrotheca recava , Hylomantis aspera , Bokermannohyla capra , Phasmahyla timbo , Phyllodytes praeceptor , Phyllodytes wuchereri , Ololygon strigilata , Physalaemus camacan , Chiasmocleis cordeiroi and C. crucis ) are also endemic to Bahia (Angulo 2008a, Juncá and Pimenta 2004, Peixoto and Pimenta 2004, Borges-Najosa and Juncá 2004, Lourenço-de-Moraes et al 2012, Teixeira Jr. et al 2012, Silvano and Pimenta 2010, Napoli and Pimenta 2009, Angulo 2009, Rodrigues 2006, Juncá and Silvano 2004, Angulo 2008b, Forlani et al 2013). The results of our study expand the known distribution of Adelophryne mucronatus 60 km to the north (Lourenço-de-Moraes et al 2012, Dias et al 2014a). Two species were recorded by collecting only a single individual per species: Aparasphenodon brunoi , a bromeliad species, which had its distribution recently increased from the municipality of Una to the REM (Ruas et al 2013), and Dermatonotus muelleri , which is a species typically found in open areas..…”

“…The increasing number of publications reporting the geographic distribution of several species (e.g., Camurugi et al 2010, Dias et al 2011, Mattedi and Pontes 2014, Dias et al 2014a) and the description of new species corroborate this data (e.g., Napoli et al 2011, Lourenço-de-Moraes et al 2012, Teixeira-Jr et al 2013, Caramaschi et al 2013, Pontes et al 2014, Juncá et al 2015, Dias et al 2017, Marciano et al 2017, Vörös et al 2017). Inventories increase our knowledge of amphibian community composition and allow a better understanding of species diversity patterns (Haddad 1998).…”

“…Until recently the only literature report on amphibian diversity from southern Bahia was a swift survey conducted by Silvano and Pimenta (2003), and although the sampling effort was limited, they recorded significant richness for several areas. During the past decade there has been an increase in studies (e.g., Dias et al 2014a, b) which have revealed high levels of amphibian richness and endemism. They also highlight the biological importance of this region.…”

The herpetofauna of the Serra do Urubu mountain range: a key biodiversity area for conservation in the brazilian atlantic forest

“…(Juncá, 2006), and RPPN Serra Bonita (n = 80 spp.) (Dias et al, 2014), all in the state of Bahia, have a higher amphibian diversity.…”

“…), with 59% of the species that occur in the State (see Santos & Carnaval, 2002;Moura et al, 2011). The Serra do Urubu mountain range has one of the richest amphibian faunas of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (see Dias et al, 2014 for a review), and is the fourth richest area in the northeastern Atlantic Forest, only the Reserva Ecológica Michelin (n = 48 spp.) (Camurugi et al, 2010), Serra da Jibóia and Serra do Timbó (n = 53 spp.)…”