Altitudinal differences in alpha, beta and functional diversity of an amphibian community in a biodiversity hotspot

Abstract

Biodiversity research along altitudinal gradients can provide us with new insights into conservation and human impacts. In this context, amphibians are a useful and important group due to their rapid response to environmental changes, severely threatened status and because of the gaps in our knowledge of their ecology, especially in tropical forests. Here, we investigate the differences in amphibian communities along an altitudinal gradient with the aim to understand how different groups respond to altitude and what factors drive such responses. We carried out our research in the Piñi-Piñi range, located in the Manu Biosphere Reserve (south-eastern Peru), a global biodiversity hotspot. We evaluated the changes in abundance, alpha, beta and functional diversity of the community with altitude along transects from 450 to 1150 m asl. We categorized species into functional groups based on their breeding sites, habitat and weight. Alpha diversity for the overall community decreased with increasing altitude, a trend partially driven by the absence of aquatic habitats in the higher elevations, which prevents colonisation by pond and stream breeders. Community composition changed with altitude and there was a low similarity between lower and higher elevations. Upper elevations were less diverse but contained species found nowhere else along the gradient, increasing the diversity of the range. Functional groups responded to altitude in different ways and several groups were absent or almost absent from the upper elevations: large species (>10 g), terrestrial, arboreal, and pond and stream breeders. Pond and stream breeders and those species found exclusively in the higher areas of the range are likely more vulnerable to habitat and climate change. Investigating the response of different functional groups and using multiple measures of diversity was useful for generating a detailed understanding of the changes in the community with altitude and their ecological and conservation implications.

Indigenous Lands are Better for Amphibian Biodiversity Conservation Than Immigrant-Managed Agricultural Lands: A Case Study From Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru

“…Altitude was found to be a strong predictor of species richness and abundance at the sample level, with fewer species and fewer individuals detected per sample at higher elevations; notably observed in some of the highest sampling locations in the regenerating forest, and especially in the native community of Shintuya. This pattern of species richness and abundance decline with increasing elevation has been shown in other amphibian studies (Khatiwada et al, 2019; Villacampa et al, 2019). Despite the role of altitude in the amphibians found in our nocturnal transects, it is important to note that this effect of altitude was found only at the sample level, as the models are trying to explain the species richness and abundance found within each survey carried out across study locations.…”

Altitude and temperature drive anuran community assembly in a Neotropical mountain region

“…Several empirical studies on anuran species richness in different tropical and subtropical mountainous regions worldwide have documented from 16 to 60 species (Carvalho‐Rocha et al, 2021; Giaretta et al, 1999; Goyannes‐Araújo et al, 2015; Malonza & Veith, 2012; Siqueira et al, 2011, 2021; Villacampa et al, 2019; Zancolli et al, 2014). In our study, we found 70 anuran species at Poços de Caldas Plateau region.…”

How mountains and elevations shape the spatial distribution of beetles in Peninsular Malaysia

“…Future studies should focus on separating the beetle communities into functional groups, which would be useful for understanding some of the factors likely driving the observed diversity patterns, and their potential conservation implications 63 . We need to analyse other dimensions of the beetle biodiversity as functional and phylogenetic metrics to unravel the factors and mechanisms driving membership of these communities across these mountains.…”