Factors affecting frog species richness in the Solomon Islands
| Autor: | Clare Morrison, Patrick Pikacha, Luke K.-P. Leung, Chris Filardi |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2017 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Amphibian geography geography.geographical_feature_category Ecology biology 010604 marine biology & hydrobiology Plant litter 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Habitat destruction Habitat biology.animal parasitic diseases Archipelago Biological dispersal Species richness Transect Nature and Landscape Conservation |
| Zdroj: | Pacific Conservation Biology. 23:387 |
| ISSN: | 1038-2097 |
| DOI: | 10.1071/pc17011 |
| Popis: | Studies across large oceanic archipelagos often provide an opportunity for testing different processes driving patterns of species richness. Frogs are among the most abundant vertebrates in the Solomon Islands but little is known of the factors influencing their richness patterns. This study used modelling to determine important ecological and biogeographic factors affecting the species richness of frogs at multiple locations on major islands across the archipelago. Between March 2009 and August 2012, 16 frog species were recorded along 109 transects placed in coastal, lowland, ridge and montane forests across 13 islands. Mean species richness was higher in the North Solomon Islands arc (6.2 species) and decreased eastwards towards the New Georgia islands (4.7 species), and Malaita (3.2 species). A plausible explanation is that the North Solomon Islands arc is closest to New Guinea, a major centre of dispersal in the south-west Pacific. Coastal (4.6 species) and freshwater (4.8 species) forests had lower predicted species richness than lowland, ridge, and montane forest types (all with 6.2 species). In addition, more frogs were predicted in areas with thin leaf litter (6.2 species), dense shrub cover (7.7 species), and moist soils (7.7 species), which are characteristic of undisturbed forests. These results suggest that frog conservation activities in the Solomon Islands should target islands in the west with intact lowland, ridge, and montane forests. Specific knowledge of this nature is vital for amphibian conservation on tropical islands experiencing extensive habitat loss, habitat modification and widespread predicted climate change impacts. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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