Host bromeliads and their associated frog species: Further considerations on the importance of species interactions for conservation

Autor: Carlos Frederico Duarte Rocha, Leandro Talione Sabagh, Rodrigo B. Ferreira
Rok vydání: 2017
Předmět:
Zdroj: Symbiosis. 73:201-211
ISSN: 1878-7665
0334-5114
DOI: 10.1007/s13199-017-0500-9
Popis: Bromeliads constitute a good example of symbiosis with organisms that spend their entire life cycle inside the plants, and often depend on them to breed. The bromeliads benefit from this interaction by increasing their nutrients intake. Conservation efforts tend to focus on a single endangered species, but in symbiotic associations, the viability of one species depends on that of the other. Based on IUCN criteria, any species that depends on another to complete its life cycle should be assigned a conservation status equivalent to that of the host taxon, where appropriate. We gathered published plus fieldwork data on the frog-bromeliad mutualism and compiled a checklist of 99 bromeligenous frogs species associated to 69 bromeliad hosts, and found threatened bromeliads hosting non-threatened frogs. We found that 62% bromeligenous frogs inhabit unspecified bromeliads. Finally, we propose strategies for improving understanding and conservation of the frog-bromeliad mutualism.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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