Frog species richness, composition and beta-diversity in coastal Brazilian restinga habitats

Abstract

We studied the species richness and composition of frogs in 10 restinga habitats (sand dune environments dominated by herbaceous and shrubby vegetation) along approximately 1500 km of coastal areas of three Brazilian States: Rio de Janeiro (Grumari, Maricá, Massambaba, Jurubatiba and Grussaí), Espírito Santo (Praia das Neves and Setiba) and Bahia (Prado and Trancoso). We estimated β-diversity and similarity among areas and related these parameters to geographic distance between areas. All areas were surveyed with a similar sampling procedure. We found 28 frog species belonging to the families Hylidae, Microhylidae, Leptodactylidae and Bufonidae. Frogs in restingas were in general nocturnal with no strictly diurnal species. The richest restinga was Praia das Neves (13 species), followed by Grussaí and Trancoso (eight species in each). The commonest species in the restingas was Scinax alter (found in eight restingas), followed by Aparasphenodon brunoi (seven areas). Our data shows that richness and composition of frog communities vary consistently along the eastern Brazilian coast and, in part, the rate of species turnover is affected by the distance among areas. Geographic distance explained approximately 12% of species turnover in restingas and about 9.5% of similarity among frog assemblages. Although geographic distance somewhat affects frog assemblages, other factors (e.g. historical factors, disturbances) seem to be also involved in explaining present frog assemblage composition in each area and species turnover among areas. The frog fauna along restinga habitats was significantly nested (matrix community temperature = 26.13°; p = 0.007). Our data also showed that the most hospitable restinga was Praia das Neves and indicated that this area should be protected as a conservation unit. Frog assemblage of each area seems to partially represent a nested subset of the original assemblage, although we should not ignore the importance of historical factors. This nestedness pattern, in part, probably results from the intensive fragmentation of restinga habitats. Possibly, many frog species may have been lost in some studied areas as a result of the extensive habitat degradation to which restinga habitats are presently exposed.Keywords: Restinga habitats, Atlantic forest, frog richness, frog assemblages, faunal similarity. Riqueza de espécies, composição e diversidade de anfíbios anuros em ambientes de restingas costeiras no Brasil ResumoEstudamos a riqueza de espécies e a composição de anuros em 10 habitats de restinga (ambientes de dunas e praias arenosas dominadas por vegetação herbácea e arbustiva), ao longo de aproximadamente 1500 km da costa de três estados brasileiros: Rio de Janeiro (Grumari, Maricá, Massambaba, Jurubatiba e Grussaí), Espírito Santo (Praia das Neves e Setiba) e Bahia (Prado e Trancoso).Estimamos a diversidade beta (β) e a similaridade entre as áreas e relacionamos estes parâmetros com a distância geográfica entre áreas. Todas as áreas foram estudadas com um esforço de amostragem simila...

Amphibia, Anura, restinga of Baixada do Maciambu, municipality of Palhoça, state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil

“…The richness of frog species recorded in the present study for Baixada do Maciambu is similar when compared to preliminary species lists for the restingas of Maricá (14 species) (Britto-Pereira et al 1988), Jurubatiba (10 species) and Marambaia (12 species, considered only for restinga area) (Silva et al 2008), all in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The total species richness recorded in a study comparing ten different restinga habitats in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, and Bahia was 28, but considering the number of species recorded for each locality, the one with the highest richness was Praia das Neves, in the state of Espírito Santo, with 13 species (Rocha et al 2008). The greatest number of frog species recorded in restingas until now was reported from Mata São João in the state of Bahia, with 30 species (Bastazini et al 2007), followed by Parque Estadual de Itapeva, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, with 28 species (Colombo et al 2008) and, the Juréia-Itatins Ecological Station, state of São Paulo, with 20 species (Narvaes et al 2009).…”

“…Usually the anuran species recorded in restingas have a wide geographic distribution and tend to also occur in other types of habitat , although the composition of anuran species tend to vary among the restingas along the Brazilian coast (Rocha et al 2008). The increasing degradation of those habitats may be reducing the available environments for the maintenance of these species .…”

Habitat selection by anurofauna community at rocky seashore in coastal Atlantic Forest, Southeastern Brazil

“…Studies have being done focused mainly in lentic habitats (e.g. Pombal, 1997;Vasconcelos and Rossa-Feres, 2005), forested areas (e.g., Almeida-Gomes et al, 2008;Salles et al, 2009;Siqueira et al, 2009;Silva-Soares et al, 2010) and, more recently, in restinga formations (e.g., Schneider and Teixeira, 2001;Van Sluys et al, 2004;Rocha et al, 2008;Silva et al, 2008). Notwithstanding, our knowledge on amphibian communities and their reproductive patterns in Atlantic Forest are reduced (Bertoluci, 1998), especially on rocky seashores.…”

Aparasphenodon brunoi Miranda-Ribeiro, 1920 (Anura: Hylidae): distribution extension and geographic distribution map for Bahia state, Brazil

“…The species is relatively common in the Restinga, a typical environment found along the southeastern coast of Brazil consisting in sand dunes covered by greatly diversified vegetation (Rizzini 1997), where it is usually found associated to bromeliads (Mesquita et al 2004;Rocha et al 2008). Aparasphenodon brunoi is also found in lowland forests of the Atlantic Forest biome (Feio et al 1998;Silva-Soares et al 2010).…”