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Urban croaking: diversity and distribution of anurans in a neotropical city

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Abstract

Anurans are excellent site-specific bioindicators. Although urbanization imposes diverse threats to wildlife species, little is known about its effect on tropical anurans. In this study we assessed the response of anurans to different conditions within an urban area (i.e. highly developed intra-urban residential areas, highly developed peri-urban residential areas, intra-urban abandoned lots, waterway). Our results show that: (1) 36 % of the regional anuran species pool was found within the boundaries of the studied city, (2) species richness peaked in highly developed peri-urban areas, (3) anuran abundance scores were highest in abandoned lots, and (4) highest similarity was found between the anuran community from highly developed peri-urban areas and abandoned lots. Although this study was carried out in a single city, and we only recorded four species, our results suggest that the urban semi-permeability process occurs for anuran communities, plus the fact that abandoned lots seem to offer better breeding habitat for anurans than a polluted waterway.

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Author notes

  1. Rubén Ortega-Álvarez

    Present address: Iniciativa para la Conservación de las Aves de América del Norte—México (NABCI—México), Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO), Liga Periférico-Insurgentes Sur, No. 4903, Col. Parques del Pedregal, Delegación Tlalpan, Distrito Federal, 14010, Mexico

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Red de Ambiente y Sustentabilidad, Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Carretera antigua a Coatepec 351, El Haya, Xalapa, 91070, Veracruz, Mexico

    Ian MacGregor-Fors

  2. Laboratorio de Ecología de Poblaciones y Comunidades Tropicales, Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Morelia. Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro 8701, Morelia, 58190, Michoacán, Mexico

    Omar Hernández Ordoñez

  3. Laboratorio de Ecología de la Restauración, Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Morelia. Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro 8701, Morelia, 58190, Michoacán, Mexico

    Rubén Ortega-Álvarez

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  1. Ian MacGregor-Fors
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Correspondence to Ian MacGregor-Fors.

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MacGregor-Fors, I., Hernández Ordoñez, O. & Ortega-Álvarez, R. Urban croaking: diversity and distribution of anurans in a neotropical city. Urban Ecosyst 16, 389–396 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-012-0267-y

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