Spatial and temporal variation in amphibian metacommunity structure in Chiapas, Mexico

Abstract

Amphibians are known to be sensitive to environmental change but their responses at the level of metacommunities to short-term environmental variability are poorly understood. We used field data from two protected areas, La Pera and Nahá (Chiapas, Mexico) to test for variation in metacommunity properties for two consecutive years (2009 and 2010). Amphibians and accompanying environmental data were recorded to a standardized protocol within each landscape, in four or five transects of 50 × 2-m per patch, for 30 and 31 patches, respectively. We found 23 species in La Pera and 30 in Nahá (21 species shared). Metacommunity structure was analysed using reciprocal averaging (RA) ordination by means of metrics for coherence, turnover and boundary clumping, with Spearman rank correlation used to examine relationships with environmental variables. The metacommunity structure varied differentially among the landscapes between years, being classed as quasi-Gleasonian in La Pera in both years, but Clementsian for Nahá in 2009 and Gleasonian for Nahá in 2010. In further illustration of variation between years, in 2009 the principal community gradient (RA axis 1) for La Pera was significantly positively correlated with altitude (r = 0.36), forest disturbance status (r = 0.78), mean canopy cover (r = 0.79) and mean litter depth (r = 0.67), while in 2010 it was correlated with latitude (r = 0.38), mean grass-layer height (r = 0.38), incidence of rainfall prior to sampling (r = 0.35) and presence of temporary ponds (r = 0.45). Our findings support the notion that amphibians respond to short-term environmental changes by individualistic movement within the landscape as well as via population dynamic responses.

Despite dramatic local changes, the metacommunity structure of a semiarid scrub remains unaffected after 23 years

“…The plant metacommunity of the Zapotitlán valley showed a Clementsian structure in the 1980 survey, which was maintained 23 years later, despite the documented changes in the composition and abundance of the species present in local communities. For this intertropical semi-arid region it is the first work on the dynamics of the structure of plant metacommunities and, as far as we know, also for Mexico, where studies on the dynamics of the structure of metacommunities have only been developed for bats (López-González et al 2012) and amphibians (Ochoa-Ochoa & Whittaker 2014). This Clementsian arrangement is consistent with the discrete segregation of the three previously defined types (Table 1) for the Table 3.…”

Calling phenology of four anurans in tropical Mexico

“…The dominant vegetation type is tropical evergreen rainforest, followed by montane cloud forest and pineoak forest (Conanp, 2006;Rzedowski, 2006). Previous surveys suggested that the anuran community composition between cloud montane forest and tropical rainforest may be different (Ochoa-Ochoa & Whittaker, 2014), with some species being exclusive to each vegetation type. The mean annual temperature is 23.6 °C, and ranges from 20.9 °C in January to 25.6 °C in May and June (Conanp, 2006).…”

“…The mean annual temperature is 23.6 °C, and ranges from 20.9 °C in January to 25.6 °C in May and June (Conanp, 2006). The climate in this area is hot sub-humid with a humid season from May to December and heavy rainfall from June to September (Conanp, 2006, Ochoa-Ochoa & Whittaker, 2014.…”

A new species of big-eared climbing rat, genus Ototylomys (Cricetidae: Tylomyinae), from Chiapas, Mexico

“…The locality is variously known as El Pozo, Pozo de Petróleo, Pozo Turipache, Pozo La Pera, La Pera, El Suspiro, or Linda Vista ( Wake and Johnson 1989 ; Johnson and Savage 1995 ; Dudley and Parish 2006 ; Johnson et al 2010 ; Ochoa-Ochoa and Whittaker 2014 ; Lamoreux et al 2015 ). The name “Pozo” ( well in Spanish) is a reference to an abandoned exploratory oil well that was drilled at the location.…”