Resilience and vulnerability of herpetofaunal functional groups to natural and human disturbances in a tropical dry forest

Suazo‐Ortuño, Ireri; Benítez‐Malvido, Julieta; Marroquín-Páramo, Jorge; Soto, Yunuen; Siliceo, Hugo; Alvarado-Dí­az, Javier

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2017.09.041

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Likewise, reproductive modes help to understand the use of habitat by species, although generalizations should not be made at the genus or family level (Haddad & Prado, 2005). Some studies have suggested that species that lay their eggs in lentic bodies of water and whose larvae develop there (without parental care) tend to be more tolerant of anthropogenic landscape transformation (Pineda & Halffter, 2004;Urbina-Cardona & Reynoso, 2009;Suazo-Ortuño et al, 2018). However, in the present study, we found divergence in habitat use by some species of the same genus.…”

Section: Relationship Between Anuran Traits and Response To Natural And Anthropogenic Habitatscontrasting

confidence: 62%

Tadpoles Inhabiting Natural and Anthropogenic Temporary Water Bodies: Which Are the Environmental Factors that Affect the Diversity of the Assemblages?

Rozo

Urbina‐Cardona

2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The study of tadpole assemblages allows inferring habitat availability and using their occupation as a means of proxy for the effective reproduction of the species, contributing to complementary information for the study of their adult forms. Environmental variables, represented by abiotic variables, vegetation structure, matrix management, and landscape elements, affect species having reproductive modes associated with oviposition and development in bodies of water. In the Orinoco region, most amphibians have complex life cycles and deposit their eggs in highly dynamic lentic bodies of water. Therefore, it is important to know how larval assemblages change over short periods of water accumulation and their relationship with environmental variables. Fieldwork was conducted during 9 weeks of larval sampling, from the beginning of the rainy season. We evaluate changes in anuran assemblages associated with water accumulation in five temporary water bodies of anthropogenic (road or pasture) and natural (savanna or gallery forest) origin. Twenty environmental variables were evaluated and measured in the center of each water body. Of these, nine landscape variables were measured only once during the study. The other eleven variables, representing management practices, physicochemical and structural characteristics of the water bodies, were measured weekly during the 3 months of sampling. We explored differences in the structure and diversity of larval-stage anuran assemblages using statistical tests suitable for small sample sizes (i.e., permutational multivariate analysis of variance PERMANOVA and the distance-based linear modeling DistLM). Of the 14 species found, two species had remarkedly high abundances from which Rhinella humboldti (19% of the total tadpole abundance) was a generalist inhabiting the natural and anthropogenic water bodies, while Leptodactylus insularum (18% of the total tadpole abundance) was a specialist at a natural pond in the savanna. The natural water bodies contained the highest number of species (between 10 and 12) and a total abundance of larvae (between 847 and 485 individuals). In contrast, the anthropogenic water body tracks generated by tractors were only occupied by two species with 50 individuals in total, while the water body generated by the trampling of cattle in pastures had three species with 474 individuals. These three species that inhabited the anthropogenic puddles were also found in the natural ponds and none of the eight species of hylids inhabited the puddles. In each field trip, all the tadpoles were collected from the sampled bodies of water. However, a week later, we found that each of the water bodies had been recolonized by four species (Leptodactylus fuscus, Leptodactylus fragilis, Elachistocleis ovalis, and R. humbolti). The variables with the highest explanatory power on the variation of anuran assemblage structure throughout all the water bodies were height of plants, number of cattle, distance to the nearest native forest edge, distance to an anthropic lentic body of water, distance to a natural lentic body of water, and pH. The bodies of water immersed in the natural cover were more diverse and had a greater degree of spatial and temporal species turnover. Our study calls for the importance of understanding the turnover of larval stage anurans over short periods, associated with water accumulation, in highly dynamic systems such as natural ponds and anthropogenic puddles. The importance of species traits and local processes is also highlighted, from environmental variables to human management activities, in the conservation of amphibian assemblages.

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Section: Relationship Between Anuran Traits and Response To Natural And Anthropogenic Habitatscontrasting

confidence: 62%

Tadpoles Inhabiting Natural and Anthropogenic Temporary Water Bodies: Which Are the Environmental Factors that Affect the Diversity of the Assemblages?

Rozo

Urbina‐Cardona

2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…The structural effects of major hurricanes on forest ecosystems include tree damage/mortality (Eppinga and Pucko 2018) and an increase in leaf litter, which might affect the heterogeneity of the forest floor (Bellingham et al, 1996) and alter the structure and composition of herpetofauna assemblages, although this may be less pertinent on St. Eustatius given its small size and limited reptile diversity (Powell et al 2005). Nevertheless, such changes may cause snakes to decline in abundance or disappear from some sites (Suazo-Ortuño et al, 2018a); indeed, our results show that post-hurricane racer density decreased dramatically inside the Quill crater compared to before the hurricanes. The racer population likely declined substantially within the first year post-hurricane, but exhibited signs of recovery after two years.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Find me if you can: Pre- and Post-hurricane Densities of the Red-bellied Racer (Alsophis rufiventris) on St. Eustatius, and a review of the genus in the Caribbean

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et al. 2021

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We estimated population densities of the red-bellied racer (Alsophis rufiventris) on the Caribbean island of St. Eustatius in 2011, 2018 and 2019 to determine the likely influence of hurricanes Irma and Maria (September 2017), in addition to evaluating abiotic parameters which may be correlated with its presence. Surveys were conducted at seven sites in 2011 prior to the hurricanes, and at 81 and 108 sites in 2018 and 2019 respectively posterior to the hurricanes. A total of 8.2 ha was surveyed in 2011, and 11.42 ha in 2018/2019. The pre-hurricane (2011) racer density estimate was 9.2/ha (min 7.3 - max 11.6); post-hurricane estimates were 4.6/ha (min 3.4 - max 6.0) in 2018 and 5.0/ha (min 3.8 - max 6.5) in 2019. The pre-hurricane encounter rate of individual racers was 16.0 snakes/hour compared to 0.34 snakes/hour in 2018 and 0.41 snakes/hour in 2019 (post-hurricane). The decrease in encounter rates between 2011 and 2019 implies a negative impact of the hurricanes on racer abundance. Based on calculations of detection probability (0.02 in 2018 and 0.03 in 2019), post-hurricane lambda estimates were 1.82 (95% CI 0.66 - 5.01) in 2018 and 1.60 (95% CI 0.39 - 6.65) snakes/ha in 2019. Given the current small size of the remaining population and the presence of invasive species across the snake's range, this species could be at risk of local extirpation. We suggest conservation actions such as invasive species management and habitat restoration to enable further recovery.

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“…With the exception of the two smallest islands (each occupied by one heliophobe lizard species), lizard assemblages persisting in these extreme habitat conditions are mostly composed by large-bodied heliophile lizards, which frequently venture into open-area habitats (Lima et al 2001, Silva et al 2014. Elsewhere in the tropics, lizard functional diversity declines under habitat disturbance (Berriozabal-Islas et al 2017), but different species diverge in their responses to altered microclimatic conditions (Lehtinen et al 2003, Gardner et al 2007, Suazo-Ortuño et al 2018.…”

Section: Forest Area Effects On A-diversity and Individual Species Traitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Forest area predicts all dimensions of small mammal and lizard diversity in Amazonian insular forest fragments

et al. 2021

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Context Although hydropower development is one of the primary drivers of habitat loss and insular fragmentation, its impacts on species identity and their functional and phylogenetic roles have often been overlooked. Objectives Here we use an integrative approach, considering taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic dimensions at multiple scales, to understand the processes underlying species (dis)assembly of two taxa exhibiting relatively low dispersal ability: small mammals and lizards. Methods We surveyed 26 islands within the Balbina Hydroelectric Reservoir, and adjacent continuous forest, in Central Amazonia. Each dimension of diversity was related to spatial and habitat variables. We also examined functional composition using community-weighted mean trait values, and community redundancy using functional uniqueness. β-diversity was partitioned into their richness (βrich) and replacement (βrepl) components. Results Functional and phylogenetic α-diversities of both taxa mirrored the taxonomic dimension, all of which increased with forest area. Individual small mammal (body mass and matrix tolerance), and lizard traits (body length, heliothermic mode and habitat type) were also predicted by forest area. For both groups, functional uniqueness decreased with forest area, and all dimensions of β-diversity were predominantly partitioned in βrich. Conclusions The environmental filter created by forest area resulted in the low conservation value associated with small forest islands, only occupied by a small set of species comprised by generalist lizards and matrix-tolerant small mammals. On the other side, large forest sites ensured ecosystem resilience to disturbance. To maintain ecosystem integrity, creating myriad small islands over large expanses of floodwaters should be avoided in future hydropower development.

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Resilience and vulnerability of herpetofaunal functional groups to natural and human disturbances in a tropical dry forest

Cited by 17 publications

References 33 publications

Tadpoles Inhabiting Natural and Anthropogenic Temporary Water Bodies: Which Are the Environmental Factors that Affect the Diversity of the Assemblages?

Tadpoles Inhabiting Natural and Anthropogenic Temporary Water Bodies: Which Are the Environmental Factors that Affect the Diversity of the Assemblages?

Find me if you can: Pre- and Post-hurricane Densities of the Red-bellied Racer (Alsophis rufiventris) on St. Eustatius, and a review of the genus in the Caribbean

Forest area predicts all dimensions of small mammal and lizard diversity in Amazonian insular forest fragments

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