AMPHIBIANS BIODIVERSITY IN RICE FIELDS FROM NORTHEASTERN ARGENTINA

M. I. DURÉ, A. I. KEHR, E. F. SCHAEFER Y F. MARANGONI

AGRICULTURE, ECOSYSTEMS AND ENVIRONMENT

Elsevier Editorial System (tm)

Lugar: http://www.elsevier.com - http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/503298/description#description; Año: 2006

0167-8809

We studied the anuran biodiversity and richness of a frog community inhabiting rice fields in northeastern Argentina, with special emphasis on the abundance for each microhabitats localized in the rice field studied. The samples were taken between October 2001 and June 2003; these were taken every two weeks during the day (1800) and the night hours (2300). Twenty six species of amphibians were identified in five microhabitats: rice fields per se, ditches and paths, pristine vegetation, aquatic vegetation and gullies. We observed significant differences among the species abundance in the four seasons. The pristine vegetation was the most diverse microhabitat, while gullies were the poorest in species. The amphibian species of three of the microhabitats adjusted to the logarithmic range-abundance model, one to the geometric and one to the broken stick. The biggest similarity, both in qualitative and quantitative, was registered between the rice field and the ditches and paths. We think that little is known about the impact on the amphibian biodiversity, produced by the transformation of natural habitat due to the agricultural ecosystem. In principle, our data suggest that rice field can support diverse and abundant amphibians populations, if appropriately managed. Nevertheless, more studies about this topic are extremely necessary in the future.