Anuran Species Composition From Chaco and Cerrado Areas in Central Brazil

Abstract

Herein, we present an updated inventory and the variations of frog communities' composition from five areas of humid Chaco and Cerrado in municipality of Porto Murtinho, Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil. This municipality is located in an area with three ecoregions: Chaco, Cerrado and Pantanal. Through acoustic and visual nocturnal/diurnal and pitfall evaluations from a period of over five years, we recorded 31 species in the Cerrado and 29 species in the humid Chaco. About 90% of the species were previously registered in the municipality of Porto Murtinho. A non-metric multidimensional analysis based on a presence/absence matrix revealed a separation in our sampling sites and communities with Cerrado and humid Chaco characteristics. This peculiarity in the species composition must be related to the transition zone, with the presence of mixed species characteristics of Cerrado and humid Chaco in both areas in the municipality of Porto Murtinho experiences a high degree of deforestation pressure, which threatens both the Cerrado and humid Chaco vegetation. This highlights the importance of knowledge actions about the richness and composition of species, corroborating ecological tools to support conservation in this region.

DNA barcoding for identification of anuran species in the central region of South America

“…Although Souza et al (2017) reported the presence of these species, some records have recently been questioned. Santos et al (2019) suggested removing the species Boana crepitans (Wied-Neuwied 1924), Scinax similis (Cochran, 1952), Adenomera martinezi (Bokermann 1956) and Leptodactylus gracilis (Duméril & Bibron 1840). Brusquetti et al (2014) , suggested the incorrect identification of Lepidobatrachus asper Budgett, 1899 as Lepidobatrachus laevis Budgett, 1899 for the state.…”

Decoupled responses of biodiversity facets driven from anuran vulnerability to climate and land‐use changes

“…Those knowledge gaps limit our understanding of the historical changes in anuran assemblages in the study area, but the recent rise in research in this region and the advance in anuran taxonomy are contributing to a better comprehension of anuran diversity and its threats across the different ecoregions (Souza et al, 2017). A recent study on the composition of anuran assemblages in areas representing the Chaco and Cerrado found similar assemblages to those recorded in previous surveys a decade before (Santos et al, 2019), which suggests that during this period, assemblage composition has been resistant to changes. The most comprehensive work on the historical declines of amphibians focuses on the Atlantic Forest and reports that more than 100 species underwent population declines throughout the last century (Toledo et al, 2023).…”