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Effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central Mexico

Habitat loss or degradation due to land cover change is regarded as one of the main drivers of amphibian decline; therefore, it is imperative to assess the effects of land-cover change on this group of vertebrates. In this study, we analyze changes in alpha and beta diversity of amphibian communitie...

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Autores principales: Lara-Tufiño, José Daniel, Badillo-Saldaña, Luis M., Hernández-Austria, Raquel, Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6378913/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30783569
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6390
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author Lara-Tufiño, José Daniel
Badillo-Saldaña, Luis M.
Hernández-Austria, Raquel
Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio
author_facet Lara-Tufiño, José Daniel
Badillo-Saldaña, Luis M.
Hernández-Austria, Raquel
Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio
author_sort Lara-Tufiño, José Daniel
collection PubMed
description Habitat loss or degradation due to land cover change is regarded as one of the main drivers of amphibian decline; therefore, it is imperative to assess the effects of land-cover change on this group of vertebrates. In this study, we analyze changes in alpha and beta diversity of amphibian communities found in five land-cover types: mountain cloud forest, tropical evergreen forest, shade coffee, milpa huasteca, and grazing areas; six samples sites were established for each land-cover type, separated at least one km away. The study was conducted in the northwest part of the state of Hidalgo, in a transition zone between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Gulf of Mexico, which is a region rich in amphibian species. The results indicate that alpha diversity decreases with loss of canopy cover, this being high in mountain cloud forest, tropical evergreen forest, and Shade coffee, and low in milpa huasteca and grazing areas. The land-cover type with the highest species evenness was found in milpa huasteca and the lowest in. The highest beta diversity was observed among tropical evergreen forest and grazing areas. Mountain cloud forest contains both exclusive species and the highest number of species currently regarded as threatened by national and international conservation assessment systems. In order to preserve amphibian diversity in the study area it is vital to protect the last remnants of native vegetation, especially mountain cloud forest, but also including Shade coffee, since the latter habitat harbors amphibian diversity similar to that found in native forests. Finally, implementation of policies that both reduce Grazing areas and increase their productivity is also necessary, since these highly modified areas turn out to be the ones that affect amphibian diversity the most.
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spelling pubmed-63789132019-02-19 Effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central Mexico Lara-Tufiño, José Daniel Badillo-Saldaña, Luis M. Hernández-Austria, Raquel Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio PeerJ Biodiversity Habitat loss or degradation due to land cover change is regarded as one of the main drivers of amphibian decline; therefore, it is imperative to assess the effects of land-cover change on this group of vertebrates. In this study, we analyze changes in alpha and beta diversity of amphibian communities found in five land-cover types: mountain cloud forest, tropical evergreen forest, shade coffee, milpa huasteca, and grazing areas; six samples sites were established for each land-cover type, separated at least one km away. The study was conducted in the northwest part of the state of Hidalgo, in a transition zone between the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Gulf of Mexico, which is a region rich in amphibian species. The results indicate that alpha diversity decreases with loss of canopy cover, this being high in mountain cloud forest, tropical evergreen forest, and Shade coffee, and low in milpa huasteca and grazing areas. The land-cover type with the highest species evenness was found in milpa huasteca and the lowest in. The highest beta diversity was observed among tropical evergreen forest and grazing areas. Mountain cloud forest contains both exclusive species and the highest number of species currently regarded as threatened by national and international conservation assessment systems. In order to preserve amphibian diversity in the study area it is vital to protect the last remnants of native vegetation, especially mountain cloud forest, but also including Shade coffee, since the latter habitat harbors amphibian diversity similar to that found in native forests. Finally, implementation of policies that both reduce Grazing areas and increase their productivity is also necessary, since these highly modified areas turn out to be the ones that affect amphibian diversity the most. PeerJ Inc. 2019-02-15 /pmc/articles/PMC6378913/ /pubmed/30783569 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6390 Text en © 2019 Lara-Tufiño et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Biodiversity
Lara-Tufiño, José Daniel
Badillo-Saldaña, Luis M.
Hernández-Austria, Raquel
Ramírez-Bautista, Aurelio
Effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central Mexico
title Effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central Mexico
title_full Effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central Mexico
title_fullStr Effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central Mexico
title_full_unstemmed Effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central Mexico
title_short Effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central Mexico
title_sort effects of traditional agroecosystems and grazing areas on amphibian diversity in a region of central mexico
topic Biodiversity
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6378913/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30783569
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.6390
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