Diversity and composition of anuran communities in transformed landscapes in central Mexico

Cruz-Elizalde, Raciel and Pineda-López, Rubén and Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio and Berriozabal-Islas, Christian (2022) Diversity and composition of anuran communities in transformed landscapes in central Mexico. COMMUNITY ECOLOGY, 23 (1). pp. 103-114. ISSN 1585-8553 (print); 1588-2756 (online)

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Abstract

Anthropized environments are associated with loss of biodiversity and have been listed as sites with low species richness for various biological groups. In this study, anuran amphibian species richness, community composition, and taxonomic and functional richness are analyzed for a highly anthropized region of central Mexico, the state of Querétaro, Mexico. A literature and database review found 25 species of anurans recorded in 13 types of environments varying from conserved to anthropized ones. Non-irrigated agricultural environments with annual seasonal harvests, such as submontane scrubland and low deciduous forest, presented the greatest species richness. Environments that had been transformed into crop fields, induced grassland and urban areas showed a greater similarity in their species composition compared to temperate envi- ronments without strong modification, i.e., montane cloud forest, pine–oak forest and oak–pine forest. The environments that presented a lower number of species also presented higher values of taxonomic diversity than those that presented the greatest species richness. The study showed that anthropized environments can maintain a different species composition than conserved environments, and maintain greater species and functional richness. This being so, further studies evaluating population density, endemism and conservation status of the species are necessary to evaluate anthropic effect on amphibian communities and other biological groups in the state of Queretaro and in other regions of Mexico.

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