Use of urban environments by amphibians anurans: implications for planning and conservation

BABINI S; POLLO FE; BIONDA CL; SALAS NE; MARTINO AL

BIOCELL

INST HISTOL EMBRIOL-CONICET

Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2013 vol. 34 p. 117 - 117

0327-9545

The urbanization is one of the causes of the amphibian population decline. In this paper, we analyzed the reproductive aspects of anuran species in the locality of Rio Cuarto, Córdoba, Argentina. We selected 18 sampling sites associated with urban and suburban environments that according to the stability of the water body were classified as environments: permanent (P), semipermanent (SP), semitemporal (ST) and temporal (T). To determine the reproductive activity we recorded acoustic emissions and presence of larval stages. The indexes of alpha and beta diversity, relative importance and permanence were calculated. To compare the diversity among environments a Hutcheson´s t-test was performed. We recorded eight anuran species, with three different reproductive modes. The greater dissimilarity values were recorded by comparing the permanent environment on the other three categories. The statistical test showed significant differences in the amphibian diversity in all environments except for the pair SP-ST. These environments have the highest diversity values. The lowest diversity was recorded for the environment P, in which only Bufo arenarum larvae were observed. Because the particular requirements of the different species, the diversity of environments with different hydroperiods, particularly with SP and ST regimes, would represents a key factor for the conservation of urban anuran communities.