Breeding Guilds Determine Frog Response to Edge Effects in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest

Understanding the response of species with differing life-history traits to habitat edges and habitat conversion helps predict their likelihood of persistence across changing landscape. In Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, we evaluated frog richness and abundance by breeding guild at four distances from the edge of a reserve: i) 200 m inside the forest, ii) 50 m inside the forest, iii) at the forest edge, and iv) 50 m inside three different converted habitats (coffee plantation, non-native Eucalyptus plantation, and abandoned pastures, hereafter matrix types). By sampling a dry and a wet season, we recorded 622 individual frogs representing 29 species, of which three were undescribed. Breeding guild (i.e. bromeliad, leaf-litter, and water-body breeders) was the most important variable explaining frog distributions in relation to edge effects and matrix types. Leaf-litter and bromeliad breeders decreased in richness and abundance from the forest interior toward the matrix habitats. Water-body breeders increased in richness toward the matrix and remained relatively stable in abundance across distances. Number of large trees (i.e. DBH \u3e 15 cm) and bromeliads best explained frog richness and abundance across distances. Twenty species found in the interior of the forest were not found in any matrix habitat. Richness and abundance across breeding guilds were higher in the rainy season but frog distributions were similar across the four distances in the two seasons. Across matrix types, leaf-litter species primarily used Eucalyptus plantations, whereas water-body species primarily used coffee plantations. Bromeliad breeders were not found inside any matrix habitat. Our study highlights the importance of primary forest for bromeliad and leaf-litter breeders. We propose that water-body breeders use edge and matrix habitats to reach breeding habitats along the valleys. Including life-history characteristics, such as breeding guild, can improve predictions of frog distributions in response to edge effect and matrix types, and can guide more effective management and conservation actions

Feeding pattern and use of reproductive habitat of the Striped toad Rhinella crucifer (Anura: Bufonidae) from Southeastern Brazil

Diet composition, foraging mode, and using of reproductive habitat of Rhinella crucifer was studied in an artificial pond in Espírito Santo, Brazil. The favored substrate was leaf litter, followed by Cyperaceae/Poaceae. Calling sites, preferred for 23.3 % (n = 7) of the observed toads, were within the water, with only the head not submerged. We analyzed a total of 61 specimens, mainly males (98.5% male and 1.5% female). Seven categories of prey were found in the stomach contents: Coleoptera, Hymenoptera (Formicidae), Isoptera, Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Gastropoda (Mollusca), Opilionida (Arachnida). Our studies indicate that the diet of Rhinella crucifer consists mainly of terrestrial colonial arthropods. Formicidae was the predominant food item in frequency of occurrence, number of prey and weight. Isoptera and Coleoptera were also relevant in terms of weight. Neither large ontogenetic dietary nor seasonal shifts were observed in the population studied. Our results suggest that no intraspecific food resource partitioning occurs in adult or juveniles. Rhinella crucifer adults avoid competition inhabiting different home range habitats and seem to be ant-specialist with a wide foraging mode

Establishment of introduced reptiles increases with the presence and richness of native congeners

Darwin proposed two contradictory hypotheses to explain the influence of congeners on the outcomes of invasion: the naturalization hypothesis, which predicts a negative relationship between the presence of congeners and invasion success, and the pre-adaptation hypothesis, which predicts a positive relationship between the presence of congeners and invasion success. Studies testing these hypotheses have shown mixed support. We tested these hypotheses using the establishment success of non-native reptiles and congener presence/absence and richness across the globe. Our results demonstrated support for the pre-adaptation hypothesis. We found that globally, both on islands and continents, establishment success was higher in the presence than in the absence of congeners and that establishment success increased with increasing congener richness. At the life form level, establishment success was higher for lizards, marginally higher for snakes, and not different for turtles in the presence of congeners; data were insufficient to test the hypotheses for crocodiles. There was no relationship between establishment success and congener richness for any life form. We suggest that we found support for the pre-adaptation hypothesis because, at the scale of our analysis, native congeners represent environmental conditions appropriate for the species rather than competition for niche space. Our results imply that areas to target for early detection of non-native reptiles are those that host closely related species

Litter Surface Temperature: A Driving Factor Affecting Foraging Activity in Dinoponera lucida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Dinoponera lucida is a poneromorph ant endemic to the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. The species is classified as endangered in Brazil’s Red List due to its peculiar reproductive biology and high habitat fragmentation. Herein, we characterize D. lucida foraging activity and response to litter surface temperature in a lowland forest remnant in south-eastern Brazil. The mean flow of workers at nest openings was 3.8 ± 0.6 per hour, mean foraging trip was 14.2 ± 2.2 min, and mean foraging distance was 3.8 ± 0.4 m. The time spent per foraging trip and litter surface temperature were positively correlated. Flow of workers at nest openings was higher with mean temperature of litter surface between 21.0 and 27.0 °C. Our results show that D. lucida has a diurnal foraging activity related to habitat temperature. Our data contribute to the knowledge about the ecology of D. lucida and support the hypothesis of optimal food foraging regulated by habitat temperature. In addition, the better understanding of D. lucida activity patterns can assist on conservation planning of this endangered and endemic ant

Evaluation of the trophic status in a Mediterranean reservoir under climate change: an integrated modelling approach

This study describes an integrated modelling approach to better understand the trophic status of the Montargil reservoir (southern Portugal) under climate change scenarios. The SWAT and CE-QUAL-W2 models were applied to the basin and reservoir, respectively, for simulating water and nutrient dynamics while considering one climatic scenario and two decadal timelines (2025–2034 and 2055–2064). Model simulations showed that the dissolved oxygen concentration in the reservoir’s hypolimnion is expected to decrease by 60% in both decadal timelines, while the chlorophyll-a concentration in the reservoir’s epiliminion is expected to increase by 25%. The total phosphorus concentration (TP) is predicted to increase in the water column surface by 63% and in the hypolimion by 90% during the 2030 timeline. These results are even more severe during the 2060 timeline. Under this climate change scenario, the reservoir showed a eutrophic state during 70–80% of both timelines. Even considering measures that involve decreases in 30 to 35% of water use, the eutrophic state is not expected to improveinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Day in the Life of the Giant Ant Dinoponera lucida Emery, 1901 (Hymenoptera, Formicidae): Records of Activities and Intraspecific Interactions

Ants present a wide variety of nesting sites, feeding habits, and trophic interactions, but the biology of most species remains unknown. Dinoponera lucida is a poneromorph ant forest-specialist and solitary forager, endemic to the Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. Herein we describe foraging activities, guard and maintenance of the nests, orientation mode, and intraspecific interactions performed by D. lucida. We found three nests distant from each other at least 8.5 m, and the mean reached distance by a worker was 3.8 m. The workers showed colony fidelity and random forage in their territory. We observed two non-agonistic interactions between workers from the same nest, and two agonistic interactions between foraging workers from different nests. The low frequency of agonistic interactions suggests that workers from different nests are unlikely to forage in the same area. Our results expand the knowledge on ants’ natural history through data on foraging activities, guard and maintenance of the nests, orientation mode and intraspecific interactions

Autenticación mediante DNA barcoding de especies de meros legalmente protegidas y en peligro de extinción, sometidas a explotación pesquera, incluyendo el mero Goliat Epinephelus itajara

Fishing strategies are constantly changing to meet the needs for new or alternative food sources. Consequently, management of fishing activities regarding rates of exploitation is essential, as a number of resources have reached situations of overexploitation. The aim of the present study was to use DNA barcoding from the goliath grouper and other exploited epinephelids in order to provide procedures for DNA authentication to be used as evidence for combating putative illegal fishing. The species studied were Epinephelus adscensionis, Mycteroperca bonaci, Mycteroperca interstitialis, Epinephelus itajara, Mycteroperca venenosa, Epinephelus mystacinus, Dermatolepis inermis, Alphestes afer, Cephalopholis fulva, Mycteroperca acutirostris, Rypticus saponaceus, Mycteroperca marginata and Epinephelus morio. Four of these species are the main epinephelids fished in the Atlantic Ocean. Differential patterns of polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism were obtained from the species and additional single nucleotide polymorphisms were also detected among the four main epinephelids studied. The procedures proved very efficient and we suggest their applicability to the other fish groups as a way to control illegal capture and retail around the world, especially in cases in which filleting and other forms of de-characterization cause a lack of morpho-anatomical key characters.Las estrategias de pesca cambian constantemente para satisfacer las necesidades de fuentes de alimento nuevas o alternativas. En consecuencia, a medida que los recursos alcanzan situaciones de sobreexplotación, resulta esencial establecer procedimientos de inspección de las actividades relacionadas con las tasas de explotación pesquera. El objetivo de este estudio es proponer el uso de la técnica de DNA barcoding para establecer la verificación de la identidad del mero Goliat y otros epinefélidos, a fin de utilizarlo como evidencia para combatir la pesca ilegal cuando se sospeche su ocurrencia. Las especies aquí estudiadas fueron Alphestes afer, Cephalopholis fulva, Dermatolepis inermis, Epinephelus adscensionis, E. itajara, E. morio, E. mystacinus, Mycteroperca acutirostris, M. bonaci, M. interstitialis, M. marginata, M. venenosa y Rypticus saponaceus de las cuales cuatro constituyen las más pescadas en el Océano Atlántico. Fueron encontrados patrones diferenciables de PCR-RFLPs para todas las especies y, además, fue posible detectar SNPs adicionales entre las cuatro especies más explotadas. Los procedimientos aquí empleados fueron muy eficaces por lo que sugerimos su aplicabilidad a otros grupos de peces como medida de control de la captura y comercialización ilegal a nivel mundial, particularmente en aquellos casos en los que el fileteado y otras formas de procesamiento que alteran las características anatómicas y morfológicas impiden su identificación

Back to the Future: Conserving Functional and Phylogenetic Diversity in the Amphibian-Climate Refuges

Climate refuges have been used by several species over historical climate change. Ectothermic species often display good models for climate change studies because they are highly sensitive to temperature. Analysis of species loss with ecosystem and evolutionary values helps to understand environmental processes and climate change consequences. We determined the functional and phylogenetic diversity of amphibians in the Atlantic Forest hotspot, using multiple models representing present and future conditions. Through a novel approach, we predict species’ threat status by 2080, following the IUCN’s criterion B1. Our results estimate a drastic reduction in species richness, ecosystem functioning and evolutionary history at low latitudes and altitudes. We show that species will tend to disperse to the areas with milder temperatures (i.e., high latitudes/altitudes). Some of these areas are the same climate refuges that have been suggested for the Late Pleistocene. We highlight that 60% of amphibians can become threatened under predicted-future conditions. This work advances the knowledge on climate refuges for amphibian ecology and evolution, supporting complementary tools for conservation strategies