Modification of landscape as promoter of change in structure and taxonomic diversity of reptile´s communities: an example in tropical landscape in the central region of Mexico

Autor: Christian Berriozabal-Islas, Aurelio Ramírez-Bautista, Raciel Cruz-Elizalde, Uriel Hernández-Salinas
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Conservation, Vol 28, Iss , Pp 33-49 (2018)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1314-3301
1314-6947
DOI: 10.3897/natureconservation.28.26186
Popis: The degree of species loss was assessed by comparing the structure of communities and species diversity of reptiles from three different environments, one natural (tropical evergreen forest [TEF]) and two modified (shaded coffee plantation [SCP] and grazing area [GA]) from the mid portion of the Sierra Madre Oriental, Mexico. The results showed 29 species, 18 in TEF, 13 in SCP and 12 in GA. According to the abundance of each species, the reptile structure for TEF and SCP was similar and they both differed from GA, while the diversity (effective number of species) was the highest for TEF. The percentage of number of species from TEF accounted for 28% more species than SCP and GA, which indicated a species loss of about 70% in disturbed environments. The values of beta diversity were the highest between TEF and GA, followed by SCP and GA and to a lesser degree between TEF and SCP, which indicates that TEF showed a high number of exclusive species. Our results suggest that carrying out long-term studies that include richness and diversity in environments with different levels of disturbance, in addition to including characteristics of natural history, might enhance the development of more efficient conservation strategies for these species.
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