Landscape use and habitat configuration effects on amphibian diversity in southern Brazil wetlands

Abstract

Abstract In this study, we evaluated the effect of changes in natural wetlands on the amphibian diversity in spatial and temporal scales. We sampled 10 wetland sites along floodplains in southern Brazil. We classify the sites as reference or altered ponds according to the preservation degree and presence of human impact. The amphibian monitoring was conducted by calling surveys performed between 2015/2016 using an automated recording system that identified the calling male species. We identified 23 species, mainly distributed in the families Hylidae (43%) and Leptodactylidae (34.8%). The altered ponds had lower diversity and higher species dominance. Even ponds with the greatest landscape change revealed an expressive resilience concerning the amphibian species composition. However, only Boana pulchella was dominant in altered ponds and B. pulchella and Pseudopaludicola falcipes were dominant in reference ponds. The landscape changes favored the reduction of amphibian richness which was driven by the expansion of the urban area and loss of flooding areas. From 1999 to 2016 all sampled sites had their wetlands reduced is area as the surrounding urban area increased, which is an unfavorable scenario for the maintenance of biodiversity. This diagnosis reveals the combined loss of habitat and reproductive sites of anurans in subtropical wetlands.