Environmental heterogeneity: Anuran diversity in homogeneous environments

The northwestern region of São Paulo was extensively deforested during the agricultural expansion in the last century and only small fragments of the original vegetation cover remained. In this study, we investigated how habitat features influence the composition, richness, and diversity of anurans...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Silva, Rodrigo Augusto [UNESP], Martins, Itamar Alves, Rossa-Feres, Denise de C. [UNESP]
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2011
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:repositorio.unesp.br:11449/27135
Acceso en línea:http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1984-46702011000500009
http://hdl.handle.net/11449/27135
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Amphibia
Community ecology
environmental indicators
habitat use
beta diversity
Descripción
Sumario:The northwestern region of São Paulo was extensively deforested during the agricultural expansion in the last century and only small fragments of the original vegetation cover remained. In this study, we investigated how habitat features influence the composition, richness, and diversity of anurans in environments homogenized by agricultural activities. We sampled monthly six breeding ponds located in pasture areas during twelve months. We recorded ten environmental descriptors for each breeding pond. We found 18 anuran species. The breeding ponds were structurally similar, but species composition differed among them. The environmental descriptors influence varies for each species, as demonstrated by the different associations between species and environmental descriptors shown in the Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Seven of the ten environmental descriptors explained 67% of the species richness, showing that environmental characteristics influenced the occurrence of the different species. There is no such data set for the region and also for most Brazilian regions, despite its importance in guiding species-oriented conservation actions.