Anurofauna in an Impacted Area in the Municipality of Ituverava in the São Paulo State of Brazil

Abstract

There is great concern about the world amphibian populations reduction resulting from six major ecological factors cited as causes of modern amphibian declines and extinctions. Habitat loss resulting from deforestation and pollution of water reservoirs are usually events in agricultural production processes in Brazil and are important examples of these factors. In addition, there are many gaps in the knowledge of amphibian communities across the Brazilian territory. We carried out an anurofauna inventory for an impacted rural area, consisting of a pond located in the middle of an agricultural soybean plantation, in the municipality of Ituverava, State of São Paulo, in 2009. The inventory showed 15 species of anurans in 4 families. The most abundant families were Hylidae (six species) and Leptodactylidae (six species), one of them belonging to the subfamily Leiuperinae. The families Bufonidae (two species) and Microhylidae (one species) were also observed. Two species identified could be interesting finds, since the registration of Pseudis bolbodactyla in the São Paulo state until the present moment has no mentioned, and Rhinella mirandaribeiroi (Gallardo, 1965), was first described recently to São Paulo state in the municipality of São Joaquim da Barra, 30 km distant for the study area. The species was well adapted to their microhabitats, even with high ecological degradation, showing themselves to be opportunistic and tolerant to anthropic areas. Unexpectedly the pond started to dry, and it dried up totally in the second half of 2010. Then a new inventory was done in the study area for raining season in 2010, showing 6 species. The species were in 4 families (one for Hylidae, one for Leptodactylidae, one for Bufonidae, and three for Microhylidae), all showing explosive reproduction behavior in temporary pools formed by heavy rain. The study data stayed archived by twelve years. To conclude this work, the environmental conditions of the study area were analyzed in the year 2021. The pond region was substituted by a pasture for cattle confinement. We couldn't observe even tadpoles in temporary puddles in periods of torrential rain. The soil is compacted with large gullies. Unfortunately, all species inventoried in 2009 and 2010 could not be found. In that way, this study highlights the worrying reality of environmental degradation involving agriculture and its relationship with anurofauna in Brazil.