Cattle in wetlands impact water quality through waste excretion, which deposits excess nutrients, as well as decreasing the biomass and height of vegetation through trampling and herbivory. Amphibians are sensitive to these changes due to their porous skin and reliance on vegetated microhabitats. Previous studies examining the effect of cattle on amphibians in wetlands report conflicting results, exemplifying the need to avoid overgeneralizations and instead examine specific environments. In the Ñeembucú Wetland Complex in Paraguay, low-intensity cattle ranching is a common practice. This study seeks to understand how the presence of cattle in these operations impacts water chemistry and amphibian species richness, as well as determining which cattle effects (eutrophication, nutrient loading, and decreased vegetation height diversity) have the greatest impact on amphibian communities. We anticipated that increased cattle presence would negatively impact wetland condition, and consequentially lower amphibian species richness. Data was collected over seven weeks at Estancia Santa Ana, a low-intensity cattle ranch in Pilar, Paraguay. Cattle presence was measured through cow footprints and feces densities, while a vegetation survey and water quality testing (nitrate, phosphate, and dissolved oxygen) served as environmental metrics. Pitfall trapping was used to gather information on amphibian species richness and community composition. A Pearson parametric correlation test and Factor Analysis of Mixed Data in R were then used to understand the relationship between variables. Very few statistically relationships were found between variables, and those that existed showed a very weak correlation. This suggests that cow presence does not have as strong of an impact on water quality or amphibian species richness as expected. Terrestrial and aquatic vegetation were found to explain much of the variation among the data, which verifies the importance of amphibians’ microhabitats. While future research comparing generalist and specialist species in the area is necessary, these initial results suggest a hopeful future for collaboration on environmental efforts with low-intensity cattle ranchers.

Todos los especímenes paraguayos de la comadrejita ágil chaqueña han sido capturados en el suelo, a pesar de los esfuerzos simultáneos de captura en los árboles. Dos individuos de C. chacoensis fueron descubiertos en dos ocasiones separadas descansando sobre una gran masa de hojas dentro de dos viejos nidos de C. chrysopterus que habían caído sobre un árbol. El primer nido estaba a 101,6 cm del suelo, mientras que el segundo a 246 cm. Se descubrió un tercer nido caído de C. chrysopterus en un árbol, a 109,7 cm del suelo, que contenía una masa de hojas y estaba aproximadamente a 1.550 m del primer nido y a 132 m del segundo nido. Estos hallazgos sugieren que la comadrejita ágil chaqueña puede utilizar de forma oportunista nidos de pájaros como dormidero.

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