Turnover or intraspecific trait variation: explaining functional variability in a neotropical anuran metacommunity

Brum

et al. 2021

Preprint

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We evaluated the influence of landscape configuration on the diversity of anurans in Atlantic Forest remnants in southern Brazil. As natural habits provide better conditions for the survival of amphibians, we expected to find more diverse communities in areas with more forest cover. We sampled tadpoles in 28 breeding sites distributed in seven forest remnants. We recorded 22 anuran species and richness varied from 6 to 12 species between sites. Most of the recorded species were not forest specialists, except for Boana curupi and Crossodactylus schmidti. There was a significant overlap in the species composition between all remnants, and the Generalized Linear Mixed Model indicated that landscape use did not affect species richness. The PERMANOVA showed that forest and livestock farming explained the dissimilarity in the composition of the communities. One possible explanation for this is that the remnants are surrounded by a relatively well-preserved landscape, which offers favorable conditions for the maintenance of local populations and homogenizes species composition across the sampling sites. The lack of any strong association between tadpole species richness and land use suggests that anurans are primally affected by habitat characteristics that are detected only on a fine-scale analysis.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association between land use and composition of amphibian species in temperate Brazilian forest remnants

Santos

Brum

et al. 2021

Preprint

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“…Habitat modifications by human-induced factors lead to changes in the patterns of metacommunity structure in anurans (Salice et al, 2011;Shanafelt et al, 2018;Dalmolin et al, 2019;Dalmolin et al, 2020). The relative distance to roads influences the functional dispersion and the functional composition of the anuran communities.…”

Section: Distance To Roads Influences the Patterns Of Functional Strumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exotic plantations -of the genera Pinus and Eucalyptus -alter soil characteristics through the release of toxic substances, also contributing to lower quality litter (Machado, Moreira & Maltchik, 2012;Ferreira et al, 2015), making these areas inhospitable for anurans dependent on higher soil/water quality or the presence of vegetation for foraging or reproducing. Also, the presence of these forestry monocultures in areas originally formed by grasslands may create physical barriers that hinder the movement of species that do not have specialized morphological traits to climb the vegetation (adhesive discs, for example; Dalmolin et al, 2020). In addition, these monocultures may represent an insurmountable discontinuity between optimal aquatic and terrestrial habitats, which is particularly serious for anurans that depend directly on both habitats (Vasconcelos & Doro, 2016).…”

Section: Distance To Roads Influences the Patterns Of Functional Strumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We underline the importance of ensuring high soil and water quality within and around ponds, and of maintaining buffers of native vegetation and their connectivity in the surrounding areas, guaranteeing the existence of gradients of environmental heterogeneity in both the vegetation and the substrate (McKinney, 2002;Lion et al, 2014;Berriozabal-Islas et al, 2018;. These environmental variables proved to influence the structure of tropical anuran communities (da Silva, Candeira & Rossa-Feres, 2012;Prado & Rossa-Feres, 2014;Dalmolin et al, 2019) and have a fundamental role in the intra and interspecific functional variation that may be necessary for species to resist in these systems (Dalmolin et al, 2020). In addition, the construction of road ditches or artificial ponds close to the roads, as well as the use of attractive lamps in energy networks (which end up attracting insects), should be avoided in order not to attract anurans to these areas where the risk of being run over is high (Coelho et al, 2012).…”

Section: Recommendations For Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Living in a changing world: effects of roads andPinusmonocultures on an anuran metacommunity in southern Brazil

Tozetti

Pereira

2020

Preprint

Self Cite

Amphibians are undergoing global-scale declines due to the increased incidence of anthropogenic stressors. The loss of species with unique evolutionary histories and functional traits poses a serious risk to the maintenance of ecosystem functions in aquatic environments, already directly affected by several anthropogenic land-use changes. Here, we investigated the influence of anthropogenic stressors (roads and Pinus monocultures) on functional, phylogenetic and taxonomic composition and functional dispersion of an anuran metacommunity of 33 ponds in southern Brazil. We expected for the relative influence of anthropogenic stressors to vary according to the compositional facet, with a greater influence of these stressors on the functional and phylogenetic than on the taxonomic facet. We also expected traits related to habitat exploration (head shape and eye size and position) to be more influenced by Pinus monocultures, while the traits related to the dispersion and the physiological control of individuals (limb length and body mass) to be similarly influenced by roads and Pinus. To evaluate this, we used PERMANOVA analyses for each of the compositional facets and anthropogenic stressor, and path models to verify all possible relationships between patterns of functional dispersion and anthropogenic stressors. We found that, while the distance from ponds to Pinus monocultures influences the phylogenetic composition, distance to roads influences the functional composition; distance to roads affects mostly the functional dispersion of the communities. These anthropogenic stressors affect the structure of anuran communities, even those formed by generalist species in terms of habitat use. There is a decline in diversity in communities located close to Pinus and roads, leading to losses in the evolutionary history accumulated in these communities. The control of vehicle traffic during reproduction periods and the maintenance of areas with natural vegetation, particularly around ponds, may help mitigate the negative effects of anthropogenic stressors on anuran communities.

Living in a changing world: effects of roads and Pinus monocultures on an anuran metacommunity in southern Brazil

Tozetti²,

Pereira³

2023

Aquat Sci

Self Cite

Amphibians are undergoing global-scale declines due to the increased incidence of anthropogenic stressors. The loss of species with unique evolutionary histories and functional traits poses a serious risk to the maintenance of ecosystem functions in aquatic environments, already directly affected by several anthropogenic land-use changes. Here, we investigated the influence of anthropogenic stressors (roads and Pinus monocultures) on functional, phylogenetic and taxonomic composition and functional dispersion of an anuran metacommunity of 33 ponds in southern Brazil. We expected for the relative influence of anthropogenic stressors to vary according to the compositional facet, with a greater influence of these stressors on the functional and phylogenetic than on the taxonomic facet. We also expected traits related to habitat exploration (head shape and eye size and position) to be more influenced by Pinus monocultures, while the traits related to the dispersion and the physiological control of individuals (limb length and body mass) to be similarly influenced by roads and Pinus.To evaluate this, we used PERMANOVA analyses for each of the compositional facets and anthropogenic stressor, and path models to verify all possible relationships between patterns of functional dispersion and anthropogenic stressors. We found that, while the distance from ponds to Pinus monocultures influences the phylogenetic composition, distance to roads influences the functional composition; distance to roads affects mostly the functional dispersion of the communities. These anthropogenic stressors affect the structure of anuran communities, even those formed by generalist species in terms of habitat use. There is a decline in diversity in communities located close to Pinus and roads, leading to losses in the evolutionary history accumulated in these communities.The control of vehicle traffic during reproduction periods and the maintenance of areas .