Diversity and abundance of litter frogs at altitudinal sites at Serra do Japi, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

ABSTRACT. It was sampled the litter frogs at altitudinal sites of a semideciduous mesophytic forest located at SeITa do Japi (Jundiaí, São Paulo, 23°I7'S, 47°00'W, 800-1300m altitude, 1500mm rain/year). Forty two plots of 8x8m were sampled in the dly/cold season of 1995: 21 at a Higher Site (HS) (lOOOm) and 21 at a Lower Site (LS) (850m). The plots were evenly located near, mid-distance, and far from lhe stream-bed. lt was found a total of tive species, three aI each sile. Eleulherodaclylus guenlheri comprised 83% of lhe individuaIs aI HS and E. juipoca 67% aI LS. The density of individuaIs was higher aI HS and near lhe slream. The grealer density aI HS may be due to grealer humidity there, provided by mist. The frogs may aggregate in wetter places (stream edges) in lhe dry/cold season. The studied sites represent harsh and early successional environments and bolh these factors may be acting together to produce the low observed diversity. KEY WORDS. Brachycephalus, Eleutherodactylus, Hyla, litter frogs, diversity, Southeastern Brazil Species composition and abundance of litter frogs are influenced by local environmental conditions such litter depth and humidity (SCOTT 1976; TOFT 1980) in addition to historical factors such as human disturbance (LIEBERMAN 1986; HErNEN 1992). The Serra do Japi is a group of low mountains in the Mantiqueira range in Southeastern Brazil mostly covered by a seasonally dry semideciduous mesophytic forest (LEITÃO-FILHO & MORELLATO 1997). On its west face, in a 300m altitudinal range (850-1 170m), different vegetational types are found (RODRIGUES & SHEPHERD 1992). lt was sampled the litter frogs at two altitudinal sites on this west face, in the altitudinal extremes where an accessible forest stream is found. Specifically it was asked: I) Do lhe litter frog diversity and abundance differ between the sites?; and 2) Do the abundance vary with distance from the stream? Revta bras. Zool. 14 (2): 341 -346 ,1 997

Species richness, relative abundance, and habitat of reproduction of terrestrial frogs in the Triângulo Mineiro region, Cerrado biome, southeastern Brazil

“…High values of dominance, such as those found for P. cuvieri at Uberlândia are typical of seasonally stressed environments, as found in other frog species communities (GIARETTA et al, 1997(GIARETTA et al, , 1999. Our results did not support the expected inverse correlation between specific abundance and body size (DINIZ-FILHO et al, 2004).…”

“…However, the number of terrestrial frogs found in the Triângulo Mineiro was similar (Boracéia, São Paulo, ca. 29 spp;HEYER et al, 1990) or even larger (GIARETTA et al, 1997(GIARETTA et al, , 1999 than forested localities in southeastern Brazil. Our results call attention to the possibility that the distinguishable rich terrestrial frog fauna of the Atlantic Forest (e. g. Boracéia, HEYER et al, 1990) is due to a disproportional contribution of its riparian species.…”

Composição e diversidade de anfíbios anuros em dois ambientes de Mata Atlântica no Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho, São Paulo, sudeste do Brasil

“…Ambientes que sofreram alterações antrópi-cas são caracterizados por vegetação mais esparsa e estão sujeitos a maior exposição solar, menor umidade e temperaturas mais elevadas quando comparados a áreas de mata preservada, com vegetação alta, densa e dossel fechado (Sexton et al 1964, Crump 1971, Inger & Colwell 1977, Pough et al 1977. As características particulares de cada ambiente em relação a estes fatores, possivelmente determinam e limitam a distribuição das espécies presentes no PECB, uma vez que diferentes espécies de anuros respondem diferencialmente às condições ambientais, apresentando diferentes taxas de crescimento e desenvolvimento, além de exibirem graus distintos de resistência e tolerância a perda de água (e.g., Thorson & Svihla 1943, Thorson 1955, Bellis 1962, Heatwole et al 1968, Crump 1971, Snyder & Weathers 1975, Pough et al 1977, Christian et al 1988, Giaretta et al 1997, Werner & Glennemeier 1999, Halverson et al 2003, Felix et al 2004. Espécies do gênero Chaunus, por exemplo, toleram maiores níveis de perda d'água em relação a espécies de outros grupos de anuros (cf.…”

Species composition and density estimates of the anurofauna of a site within the northernmost large Atlantic Forest remnant (Parque Estadual do Desengano) in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…The estimated overall frog density of the local leaf litter frog assemblage was relatively high when compared to those found for other sites within the Atlantic Rainforest (Giaretta et al 1997, 1999, Rocha et al 2001, Almeida-Gomes et al 2008, with one exception (Siqueira et al 2009). However, 93% of the frogs found in plots represented a single species, so that the high frog density observed basically reflects the high local abundance of I. parva.…”

“…Indeed, this small direct-developing frog numerically dominated the anuran assemblage at PED (as also evidenced by the VES methodology). Species with direct development usually are numerically dominant in Neotropical litter frog assemblages (e.g., Scott Junior 1976, Lieberman 1986, Fauth et al 1989, Giaretta et al 1997, 1999, Rocha et al 2001, Siqueira et al 2009, Almeida-Gomes et al 2008. Direct-developing frogs may be more widely distributed within the forest because they are independent of water bodies for reproduction, whereas species with water-dependent reproduction may be limited by the proximity of water bodies (e.g., Heyer & Berven 1973, Scott Junior 1976.…”