Composition of Amphibian Assemblages in Agroecosystems from the Central Region of Argentina.

C. L. BIONDA; DI TADA I.; LAJMANOVICH R. C.

RUSSIAN JOURNAL OF HERPETOLOGY

Editorial Council

Año: 2011 vol. 18 p. 93 - 98

1026-2296

The anuran diversity, abundance, richness and evenness were examined in agroecosystems from the central regionof Argentina, area that was greatly altered by agricultural activities. Relationships with climatic characteristicswere also analyzed. To capture anurans, pitfall trap transects were established. A total of 561 amphibians of sevenspecies, belonging to four families (Bufonidae, Leiuperidae, Cycloramphidae, and Leptodactylidae) were recorded.Stepwise multiple linear regressions showed strong positive association between both species richness andanuran abundance with habitat variables as rainfall and rain-day. The anuran richness observed in the studied areasis similar to other sites with level of alteration comparable, but the anuran richness and abundance observed here islower compared with the records of anuran species for the region before agricultural development. Thus, these resultshave suggested that amphibians may be particularly affected by habitat modification and degradation due toagricultural activities in the central region of Argentina, and it may be contributing to regression of their diversityand richness.