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Ecology, Biogeography, and Conservation of Amphibians of the Caatinga

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Abstract

In this chapter, we review current knowledge on the ecology, biodiversity, biogeography, and conservation of amphibians of the Caatinga. We recorded 98 species belonging to 12 families, with 20 endemic species and 67% of the regional diversity concentrated in two families: Hylidae and Leptodactylidae. We generated a surface of potential anuran richness based on binary maps generated through niche modeling. Our resulting map corroborated most areas previously recognized as highly diverse, but also suggested others that must be further studied. A general pattern of higher richness areas on the east portion of the biome, associated with the Atlantic Forest, is evident, but central and western portions with higher richness values are also evident. The biodiversity of the Caatinga is just starting to be understood, with the vast majority of papers on amphibians published only in the last 20 years. A concerted effort is needed to fill information gaps regarding Caatinga amphibians, including geographic distribution and biogeography, community and population ecology, physiology, and taxonomic and phylogenetic appraisals that can adequately support conservation policies and practices for its fauna.

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Acknowledgements

MFN acknowledges the Rede Baiana de Pesquisa sobre Anfíbios (RBPA) for financial support under the research project ‘Padrões e processos da diversidade de anfíbios na Bahia: influência das mudanças climáticas e propostas de conservação’, supported by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado da Bahia (FAPESB) and the Secretaria do Meio Ambiente da Bahia (SEMA) (PAM0005/2014). AAG, MFN, FAJ, and RBM thank the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for their productivity research grants (305849/2015-8, 309531/2015-2). AAG thanks CNPq for financial support (grant # 552031/2011-9, 457463/2012-0). MFN, FAJ, and AAG thank the Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA) and Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade for collecting permits.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratório de Anfíbios e Répteis, Departamento de Botânica e Zoologia, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil

    Adrian Antonio Garda & Marília Bruzzi Lion

  2. Laboratório de Planejamento e Conservação, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília, DF, Brazil

    Mariana Garcez Stein & Ricardo Bonfim Machado

  3. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Feira de Santana, BA, Brazil

    Flora Acuña Juncá

  4. Museu de História Natural, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brazil

    Marcelo Felgueiras Napoli

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  1. Adrian Antonio Garda
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  1. Department of Geography, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    José Maria Cardoso da Silva

  2. Department of Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

    Inara R. Leal  & Marcelo Tabarelli  & 

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Garda, A.A., Stein, M.G., Machado, R.B., Lion, M.B., Juncá, F.A., Napoli, M.F. (2017). Ecology, Biogeography, and Conservation of Amphibians of the Caatinga. In: Silva, J.M.C., Leal, I.R., Tabarelli, M. (eds) Caatinga. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68339-3_5

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