Amphibians of the Reserva Ecológica Michelin: a high diversity site in the lowland Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil.

Caio Vinícius De Mira-Mendes,Iuri Ribeiro Dias,Danilo Silva Ruas,Julio Ernesto Baumgarten,Mirco Solé,Renan Manoel De Oliveira,Indira Maria Castro,Flora Acuña Juncá

doi:10.3897/zookeys.753.21438

Caio Vinícius De Mira-Mendes, Iuri Ribeiro Dias + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.753.21438

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Abstract

An inventory of the amphibians of the Reserva Ecológica Michelin – REM in southern Bahia, Brazil is presented. Sixty-nine species were recorded during a ten-year sampling period. Amphibians were distributed in two orders (Gymnophiona and Anura), belonging to twelve families [Aromobatidae (1), Bufonidae (3), Centrolenidae (1), Craugastoridae (5), Eleutherodactylidae (3), Hemiphractidae (2), Hylidae (34), Phyllomedusidae (5) Leptodactylidae (7), Microhylidae (4), Odontophrynidae (3) and Caeciliidae (1)]. Fifty per cent of the reproductive modes known for Atlantic forest anurans were recorded. While no threatened species were found at REM, six species are classified as data deficient (DD) by the Brazilian Red List of threatened species and deserve additional attention. Phasmahyla timbo and Vitreorana eurygnatha are listed as endangered in Bahia according to the list of threatened species of the state. Despite a higher diversity of amphibians in the Atlantic forest having been reported for mountainous regions, our results revealed that amphibian richness for lowland forests is also high.

Highlights

A rapid decline in amphibian populations has been reported worldwide over the past decades (Young et al 2001), and currently amphibians are considered the most threatened vertebrate group on the planet (Hoffmann et al 2010)
Our study aims to provide an inventory of amphibian species from the Reserva Ecológica Michelin – REM, a lowland Atlantic Forest site in southern Bahia, northeastern Brazil, known as one of the most biodiverse regions of the world
Sixty-nine species of amphibians were recorded in the REM: one species of Gymnophiona (Siphonops annulatus – Siphonopidae) and 68 anurans species, belonging to eleven families (Table 1; Figures 2–6)

Summary

Introduction

A rapid decline in amphibian populations has been reported worldwide over the past decades (Young et al 2001), and currently amphibians are considered the most threatened vertebrate group on the planet (Hoffmann et al 2010). Within the Neotropics, Brazil harbours the largest number of described amphibian species worldwide (Segalla et al 2016). According to the national species conservation status assessment (ICMBio 2014), only 4% of Brazilian amphibians are threatened. Approximately 17% of Brazilian species are classified as Data Deficient (DD) (ICMBio 2014) and as there are still many gaps in distribution data, the real number of threatened species may be underestimated and much basic biogeographical work remains to be done (Brooks et al 2004, IUCN 2008)

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