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We report an event of a Caiman crocodilus consuming the catfish Pterygoplichthys pardalis. A list of known prey items of C. crocodilus was also compiled from the literature, including known vertebrate and invertebrate items for this species. The predation event was observed at the margin of a lagoon in Reserva Florestal Adolpho Ducke, located in the municipality of Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil, during a fieldwork study in 2020. The literature survey revealed 250 distinct prey items for this caiman, of which 150 are invertebrates (89 Insecta, 24 Crustacea, 14 Mollusca,10 Arachnida, 10 Myriapoda, 2 Annelida, and 1 Platyhelminthes) and 100 are vertebrates (53 fishes, 16 reptiles, 11 amphibians, 10 birds, and 10 mammals). Among fishes, only three Siluriformes have been taxonomically identified as C. crocodilus preys: Hoplosternum littorale, Clarias batrachus, and Ameiurus nebulosus. Therefore, the catfish P. pardalis represents a new prey specie for C. crocodilus. Our field observation and the presented literature review reinforce the view of C. crocodilus as a generalist predator, with fish as the most important vertebrate prey in the diet of this species.

Quantitative analysis of the acoustic communication system in anurans is a relevant step toward understanding how acoustic traits variation is related to conspecific recognition and discrimination....

Understanding the main patterns that affect biodiversity in local and biogeographic scale is central in ecological and conservation studies. Here, we investigated the trappability of small mammals by different methodologies in a fragmented landscape on Atlantic Forest-Cerrado ecotone, and compared the estimated richness and composition of this study community with small mammals surveyed in central Brazil phytogeographic domains. We compared the number of captures between trap type, trap position and the interaction between these variables using a generalized linear mixed model, and compare our findings with those from published data in a radius of 1000 km, using rarefaction and extrapolation methods. Pitfall traps were essential in capturing Monodelphis kunsi, Calomys tener and Oligoryzomys fornesi, whereas wire-cage traps were more efficient on capturing Didelphis albiventris. Calomys expulsus and D. albiventris were significantly more captured in traps on the ground, and Gracilinanus agilis, Marmosa murina, Oecomys bicolor, O. catherinae and Rhipidomys macrurus had more captures in traps on understory. The use of different trap types, mainly pitfall traps, as sampling the vertical strata of habitat, is a good strategy for achieving the completeness sampling of small mammals in the Neotropics. The relative lower small mammal richness in Atlantic Forest-Cerrado ecotone compared to other domains could be explained by the historical higher habitat loss reported for this ecotone zone; thus, we highlight the need of conservation efforts for the preservation of small mammals and else biota that inhabit such type of environment.

Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T12:32:07Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-01-01 Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Goias (FAPEG) Male anurans emit different call types in specific social contexts. Such calls represent a communication pathway for species recognition, mate choice, and male-male competition mediation. The acoustic parameters of these calls can be under directional and/or stabilizing selection due to female choice, which influences intra- and inter-individual call variation. Herein, we investigated the inter-year variation of the advertisement and aggressive calls of the gladiator frog Boana goiana, analysing a temporal series encompassing 18 years of sampling (1996-2014). We measured and analysed the following acoustic parameters: call duration, call repetition rate, number of pulses. pulse duration, pulse repetition rate, and dominant frequency. For both call types. the dominant frequency was classified as a static parameter (CVintra < 5%), while call duration was a dynamic parameter (CVintra > 12%). The advertisement call of B. goiana presents the attributes that could allow individual recognition in the chorus, and we suggest that the aggressive calls might also be important for the individual recognition process. Pulse duration of the advertisement and aggressive calls decreased over the years, as well as the repetition rate of the aggressive calls, which could be related to male body size decrease over the years probably related to habitat alteration. This study provides data on the variation of anuran acoustic features over the longest time span ever analysed. Such studies are less invasive and useful for conservation purposes, since they can detect changes in the reproductive behaviour of populations that might be under environmental modification pressure. Univ Fed Goias, Programa Posgrad Biodiversidade Anim, BR-74690900 Goiania, Go, Brazil Univ Fed Goias, Dept Ecol, Inst Ciencias Biol, BR-74690900 Goiania, Go, Brazil Univ Fed Goias, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Evolucao, BR-74690900 Goiania, Go, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Morfol & Fisiol Anim, Fac Ciancias Agr & Vet, BR-14884900 Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil Inst Fed Goiano, Campus Rio Verde,Caixa Postal 66, BR-75901970 Rio Verde, Go, Brazil Univ Estadual Paulista, Dept Morfol & Fisiol Anim, Fac Ciancias Agr & Vet, BR-14884900 Jaboticabal, SP, Brazil

A regiao Centro-Oeste brasileira destaca-se pela expansao da fronteira agricola e importantes avancos tecnologicos como agentes do crescimento da moderna agropecuaria, gerando preocupacao em termos de conservacao da biodiversidade. Aliado a isto, ressalta-se que os anfibios sao o grupo de vertebrados mais ameacados do mundo, sofrendo um acentuado declinio, sendo a perda e fragmentacao de habitat consideradas as principais causas de extincao. Neste cenario, analisar as tendencias na producao cientifica e um metodo util para maximizar os esforcos de conservacao. Neste estudo, foi realizada uma analise cienciometrica sobre anuros na regiao Centro-Oeste do Brasil para determinar lacunas e tendencias na producao cientifica. Os dados evidenciaram aumento significativo no numero de publicacoes nos ultimos 18 anos. Entretanto, os resultados indicaram a preferencia dos pesquisadores por determinadas areas do conhecimento, evidenciando um maior numero de pesquisas sobre historia natural, taxonomia e inventarios, nessa ordem, apresentando um padrao de incompletude na producao de conhecimento para esse grupo taxonomico. Destacamos a necessidade de alocacoes de esforcos de pesquisas em diferentes areas do conhecimento, principalmente em estudos sobre dinâmica populacional e morfologia, ampliando o conhecimento cientifico sobre essas especies e viabilizando dados para futuras estrategias de conservacao. PATTERNS AND TRENDS OF SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION ON ANURANS OF THE MIDWESTERN REGION OF BRAZIL. The Midwest region Brazilian stands out for the expansion of the agricultural frontier and important technological advances as agents of growth of modern agriculture, generating concern in terms of biodiversity conservation. Allied to this, it should be noted that amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate group in the world, suffering a sharp decline, being habitat loss and fragmentation considered the main causes of extinction. In this scenario, analyze trends in scientific production is a useful method to maximize conservation efforts. In this study, a scienciometric analysis was performed on frogs in the Midwest region of Brazil to determine gaps and trends in scientific production. The data showed significant increase in the number of publications in the last 18 years. However, the results indicated the preference of researchers for certain areas of knowledge, highlighting a larger number of research on natural history, taxonomy and inventories, in that order, showing a pattern of incompleteness in the production of knowledge for this taxonomic group. We stress the need for allocations of research efforts in different fields of knowledge, mainly in population dynamics and morphology, enlarging the scientific knowledge about these species and providing data for future conservation strategies.

Allometric constraint is a product of natural selection and physical laws, particularly with respect to body size and traits constrained by properties thereof, such as metabolism, longevity, and vocal frequency. Allometric relationships are often conserved across lineages, indicating that physical constraints dictate scaling patterns in deep time, despite substantial genetic and ecological divergence among organisms. In particular, acoustic allometry (sound frequency ~ body size) is conserved across frogs, in defiance of massive variation in both body size and frequency. Here, we ask how many instances of allometric escape have occurred across the frog tree of life using a Bayesian framework that estimates the location, number, and magnitude of shifts in the adaptive landscape of acoustic allometry. Moreover, we test whether ecology in terms of calling site could affect these relationships. We find that calling site has a major influence on acoustic allometry. Despite this, we identify only four major instances of allometric escape, potentially deriving from ecomorphological adaptations to new signal modalities. In these instances of allometric escape, the optima and strength of the scaling relationship are different than expected for most other frog species, representing new adaptive regimes of body size ~ call frequency. Allometric constraints on frog calls are highly conserved and have rarely allowed escape, despite frequent invasions of new adaptive regimes and dramatic ecomorphological divergence. Our results highlight the rare instances in which natural and sexual selection combined can overcome physical constraints on sound production., Allometric constraints in frogs are highly conserved and have rarely promoted allometric escape despite frequent invasions of new adaptive regimes of sound frequency and dramatic ecomorphological divergence in body size and calling site. In this study, we highlight instances in which natural and sexual selection combined could overcome physical constraints on sound production.

The Cerrado ecoregion, although threatened, holds an important diversity of medium- and large-sized mammals, which play considerable ecological functions. However, the functional diversity of medium- and large-sized mammals is considerably affected by landscape characteristics. Thus, we inventoried medium- and large-sized mammals in nine patches (natural forest remnants) in the Cerrado ecoregion of central Brazil and investigated the influence of patch and landscape attributes (buffer with 5 km around patch) on their functional diversity. We surveyed these species from August 2016 to January 2017 through camera trapping and active search techniques (tracks, vocalizations, and burrows). Functional diversity was calculated based on body mass, behavior (presence or absence of social behavior), type of locomotion, dietary habits, and environmental sensitivity. For analysis, we divided species into two groups: forest dependent mammals (FDM) and forest non-dependent mammals (NDM). We used Akaike’s information criterion corrected for small sample size to select the models that best explain the functional diversity at the local (patch) and landscape scales. The FDM species were influenced by Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and patch size at the patch scale and by mean patch size and edge density at the landscape scale. The NDM were not influenced by patch and landscape scale attributes. Our results indicated that analyses at two scales with the mammal species grouped considering their differences in dependence of forest remnants is a valid approach for evaluating diversity patterns of medium-and large-sized mammals in the Brazilian Cerrado ecoregion.

EnglishHere we present a complete data set on the richness of medium- and large- sized mammals from a fragmented area of the southern Brazilian savanna (Cerrado). We described the frequency, occurrence status and activity period of the most common species. In each remnant, the community of medium- and large-sized mammals was inventoried across the following methods: tracks/prints, vocalizations, sightings, burrows, and camera trap images between August 2016 and January 2017. We recorded 23 species of medium- and large-sized mammals, of which seven are threatened. The study area presented a great potential, where we recorded 45.1% of all medium- and large-sized mammal species occurring in the Cerrado. Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Dasypus novemcinctus, Tapirus terrestris, Cerdocyon thous and Cuniculus paca were classified as common, which was expected since they have large habitat range, and therefore, can be recorded more frequently. Species with large body size, such as T. terrestris, M. tridactyla and C. thous, were also the ones with the greatest variation in time period of activity, occurring both in nocturnal and diurnal time periods. Therefore, our study here underscores that this transition area, although fragmented, still maintains an expressive fauna of medium- and large-sized mammals, including endangered species. portuguesApresentamos um conjunto completo de dados sobre a riqueza de mamiferos de medio e grande porte para o sul do Cerrado. Descrevemos a frequencia, status de ocorrencia e periodo de atividade das especies mais comuns. Em cada remanes-cente, a comunidade de mamiferos de medio e grande porte foi inventariada atraves dos seguintes metodos: pegadas, vocalizacoes, visualizacoes diretas, tocas e regis-tros por armadilhas fotograficas durante agosto de 2016 a janeiro de 2017. Regis-tramos 23 especies de medio e grandes mamiferos, das quais sete sao ameacadas. A area de estudo apresentou um grande potencial, onde registramos 45.1% de todas as especies de medio e grandes mamiferos ocorrentes no Cerrado. Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Dasypus novemcinctus, Tapirus terrestris, Cerdocyon thous e Cuniculus paca foram classificadas como comuns, o que era esperado, uma vez que possuem extensa area de vida, podendo, portanto, serem registradas mais frequentemente. Especies com grande massa corporal, tais como T. terrestris, M. tridactyla e C. thous, tambem foram os que apresentaram maior variacao no periodo de atividade, ocor-rendo no periodo noturno e diurno. Portanto, nosso estudo destaca que esta area, embora fragmentada, ainda mantem uma expressiva fauna de mamiferos de medio e grande porte, incluindo especies ameacadas. Palavras-chave: Especies ameacadas, frequencia, inventory, Puma yagouaroundi

Neighbour-stranger discrimination is an important mechanism in social behaviour, as it allows the individual to avoid the high energetic costs of repeated agonistic interactions with neighbours. In some anuran species, the owners of territories respond more aggressively towards strangers than neighbours. Here, we investigated whether gladiator frog, Boana goiana, males discriminate between neighbours and strangers. This is a lek-breeding species; therefore, it does not defend fixed territories which are associated with a specific resource. We conducted a playback field experiment with a repeated-measures design, based on three treatments: (i) neighbour’s call in initial position, (ii) stranger’s call in initial position, and (iii) neighbour’s call in new position. We did not observe any systematic modification in the acoustic properties (call duration, dominant frequency, repetition rate) of the advertisement and short aggressive calls of B. goiana males given in response to our playback treatments. Our results indicate that B. goiana males do not exhibit vocally mediated ‘dear enemy’ relationships. We discuss the possible ecological and social factors that may have impeded the evolution of ‘dear enemy’ relationships in this species.

Bioacoustics is an effective way of recording detailed data during population surveys and monitoring. In the present study, we used an automated digital recorder (ADR) to describe the temporal variation in the calling activity of Scinax fuscomarginatus (Lutz, 1925) in central Brazil. We also evaluated the role of climatic variables (air temperature and precipitation) on calling activity by using a Generalized Additive Model (GAM). We conducted the recordings at five ponds in the Cerrado savanna of Rio Verde Municipality, in Goiás state between November 2013 and October 2014. The analysis of the 43.2 hours of acoustic recording showed that S. fuscomarginatus has a prolonged breeding pattern. The ADR provides a fine-scale description of the nocturnal calling pattern, as well as the oscillations between the rainy and dry seasons. The results of the analytical model also indicate that calling patterns were related to minimum (but not maximum) air temperatures and precipitation, which may be related to their reproductive and thermoregulatory requirements. Based on these findings, we conclude that the ADR method has potentially valuable applications for the collection of data on the natural history of anuran species, as well as supplying important insights for conservation initiatives.

Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T01:54:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-01-01 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia, Inovações e Comunicações Amphibians are one of the most threatened among the vertebrates species and urgently require conservation protection and planning. The establishment of protected areas (PAs) is one of the most important strategies in protecting biodiversity, as they offer a partial solution to habitat modification. Our main objective was to analyse the temporal and spatial trends in the anuran species inventories of PAs in Brazil, therefore providing an extensive list of anuran species in the Brazilian PAs network for the first time. We considered a combination of keywords while using the data on “Scopus”, “Scielo”, and “Web of Science”. We found 115 papers that published anuran species lists for 101 Brazilian protected areas. Overall, we registered 605 species distributed in 20 families. Only seven out of the 605 anuran species registered in the present study are threatened by extinction and 40 are listed as Data Deficient. The number of anuran species inventories in Brazilian protected areas has increased over time (r = 0.17; r2 = 0.267; p

We present a description of the external morphology of Phyllomedusa azurea and describe the internal oral morphology of P. azurea and P. oreades from populations of the Brazilian Cerrado. We also present a comparison with the available descriptions of the external morphology of tadpoles from the P. hypochondrialis group and review the internal oral morphology of the Phyllomedusa genus. The tadpole of P. azurea is characterized by a tooth row formula of 2(2)/3(1), few submarginal papillae, and spiracle positioned ventrally. Phyllomedusa oreades has a diamond-shaped buccal floor, numerous pustulations randomly distributed throughout the buccal floor arena, and a triangular buccal roof. The variation observed in the morphology of P. azurea tadpoles highlights the need to understand how morphological variation affects traits used in species diagnosis and the extent to which this variation could be explained by resource use, geographic variation, and/or ontogeny.

Habitat loss and fragmentation are severe threats to biodiversity but have been little explored in studies of the woody vegetation of the Cerrado. The present study addressed the community structure of woody plants in 17 “Dense Cerrado” fragments in the Upper Basin of the Araguaia River (GO and MT), standardizing variables such as fragment size (>50 ha), shape, disturbance and matrix. The phytosociological structure was assessed with an inclusion criterion of D30 ≥ 5 cm in three plots, 50 × 20 m each, per fragment. A total of 131 species were recorded. Pielou’s equitability index was equal to 0.82, and Shannon’s diversity index (H′) was equal to 4.03 nats/ind.−1. Basal area and density were equal to 18.13 m2 ha−1 and 1715.49 ind. ha−1, respectively. The estimated richness (Jackknife 1) was superior to the observed richness. The assessment whether density, observed diversity and Shannon’s diversity index for each fragment explained either fragment size or habitat lost in 28 years revealed that these parameters did not explain either the woody community structure or the species diversity. The assumption that the fragments with the greatest area loss throughout this time period would have less diverse communities was not corroborated. The results of the Mantel test did not demonstrate any relationship between geographical distance and floristic similarity in “Dense Cerrado” fragments; therefore, it was not possible to corroborate the hypothesis that fragments located closer to each other are more floristically similar. As suggested by some authors, the floristic similarity in Cerrado areas can be better explained by other factors than geographical distance among sampled sites.

Acoustic signals are employed to support the correct designation of species and enables the discrimination between individuals. We analyzed both intra and interindividual variability of the advertisement call of Physalaemus centralis on the basis of specimens recorded in eight localities of the Cerrado in central Brazil. Within-individual variation, most of the call parameters were static properties. Both spectral and temporal call properties were dynamic between individuals. All call proprieties varied more between individuals than within an individual. Our study adds important data for future studies on the taxonomy and phylogeny of the P. cuvieri clade.

Dendropsophus cruzi (Pombal & Bastos, 1998) is a small hylid (male snout-to-vent length = 16.3–19.4 mm; female SVL = 21.3–25.0 mm) that is allocated in the D. microcephalus group (Faivovich et al. 2005). It is commonly found in Open and forested areas from Central Brazil to Provincia Velasco, Departamento de Santa Cruz, Bolivia (Frost 2017; Tessarolo et al. 2016). Pombal & Bastos (1998) described the advertisement call of D. cruzi as a single pulsed note. Posteriorly, studies uncovered relationships between dominant frequency variation in the advertisement calls of D. cruzi and variation in the SVL and mass of males (Bastos et al. 2003), as well as the existence of a clinal geographic pattern in the variation of acoustic parameters of these calls (Tessarolo et al. 2016). However, the acoustic communication in anurans is usually mediated by more than one vocalization type (Toledo et al. 2015). Due the importance of call types in the social context of anurans (e.g., Reichert 2011; Forti et al. 2017), we expand the vocal repertoire of D. cruzi by describing its aggressive call.

© 2018 Guerra et al., Advertisement calls are often used as essential basic information in studies of animal behaviour, ecology, evolution, conservation, taxonomy or biodiversity inventories. Yet the description of this type of acoustic signals is far to be completed, especially in tropical regions, and is frequently non-standardized or limited in information, restricting the application of bioacoustics in science. Here we conducted a scientometric review of the described adverstisement calls of anuran species of Brazil, the world richest territory in anurans, to evaluate the amount, standard and trends of the knowledge on this key life-history trait and to identify gaps and directions for future research strategies. Based on our review, 607 studies have been published between 1960 to 2016 describing the calls of 719 Brazilian anuran species (68.8% of all species), a publication rate of 10.6 descriptions per year. From each of these studies, thirty-one variables were recorded and examined with descriptive and inferential statistics. In spite of an exponential rise over the last six decades in the number of studies, described calls, and quantity of published metadata, as revealed by regression models, clear shortfalls were identified with regard to anuran families, biomes, and categories of threat. More than 55% of these species belong to the two richest families, Hylidae or Leptodactylidae. The lowest percentage of species with described calls corresponds to the most diverse biomes, namely Atlantic Forest (65.1%) and Amazon (71.5%), and to the IUCN categories of threat (56.8%), relative to the less-than-threatened categories (74.3%). Moreover, only 52.3% of the species have some of its calls deposited in the main scientific sound collections. Our findings evidence remarkable knowledge gaps on advertisement calls of Brazilian anuran species, emphasizing the need of further efforts in standardizing and increasing the description of anuran calls for their application in studies of the behaviour, ecology, biogeography or taxonomy of the species., RPB thanks the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) for providing grant and fellowship (process 308204/2013-1). DL was supported by a Global Marie S. Curie Fellowship (EAVESTROP-661408) granted by the European Commission (Program H2020). We would also like to thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES/Proex http://www.capes.gov.br/) for providing scholarship to VG.

The current biodiversity crisis has stimulated the creation of protected areas, a fundamental conservation tool for halting biodiversity loss. Moreover, protected areas are often accessed by researchers for field observations and natural experiments, thus representing also an important tool promoting biodiversity discoveries. Here, we investigated the importance of protected areas in achieving both conservation and scientific roles for anurans in the Brazilian Cerrado. We specifically compared species richness, species geographical range size, time since species description, and species body size from 173 anurans between 18 protected and seven non-protected areas. We expect that conservation role would be fulfilled if higher species richness is represented into protected than non-protected areas. Similarly, if reserves are effective tools in promoting biodiversity discoveries, we expect a higher number of less detectable (narrow-ranged and small-bodied) and recently described species into protected areas. The estimated species richness was significantly higher in protected than non-protected areas (t = 12.82; df = 6; p

Many species are classified as Data Deficient, because there is a knowledge gap about distribution range and population size and trends. This situation may be a problem in conservation, because the extinction risk of these species is unknown. In the present study, we analyzed all Brazilian anuran species classified as Data Deficient in the IUCN Red List to propose a method to know the conservation status of Data Deficient species. We used the time since species description coupled with the known current species distribution size to indicate the potential conservation status of Data Deficient species. We considered 231 Data Deficient anuran species in Brazil, in which most species (n = 166 spp.) are newly described and restricted geographically (Group D). Group A (n = 9 spp.) and C (n = 18 spp.) were composed by species widely distributed and Group B (n = 37 spp.) was composed by species described more than 50 years ago and geographically restricted. Data Deficient is not a threatened category, however it indicates a need to obtain more information about the species listed, but unfortunately financial resource is limited. We suggested that the species allocated in the group B in our analyses must be priorities in future studies, because it is possible that these are threatened. Our analysis used the amphibian anuran from Brazil as model to propose some action that may be useful to known the conservation status of Data Deficient species.

Proceratophrys dibernardoi Brandão, Caramaschi, Vaz-SilvaCampos 2013 has recently been described and allocated into the P. cristiceps species group, but no information about its advertisement calls has been provided (Brandão et al. 2013). Here, we describe for the first time the advertisement calls of P. dibernardoi based on specimens from Central Brazil. We also expand P. dibernardoi´s geographic distribution by reporting a new population in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, constituting the westernmost record for this species, and extending its known range approximately 330 km westward of the municipality of Aporé, State of Goiás (P. dibernardoi´s former westernmost record).

Permanent preservation areas (PPAs) adjacent to drainage channels may include forests, savannahs, or grassland Under a former environmental legislation ("Forest Code"), it was required to maintain a strip of native vegetation (at least 30 m wide) at the margin of any drainage channel, to support environmental functions. Under the current native vegetation protection policy, if a riparian margin was degraded prior to 2008, the landholder is required to regenerate a strip of only 5-20 m, in some cases. The present study evaluated and compared the ligneous vegetation structure in 10 preserved PPAs (following the requirements of the old law) and 10 degraded PPAs (conforming to the current environmental legislation), in Mineiros municipality, southwest Goiás. Sixty plots measuring 15 m × 30 m were delineated, and data for all ligneous individuals with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 5 cm were recorded. A total of 2,662 individuals were documented, distributed among 208 species. Of the total, 1,573 individuals belonging to 167 species were from the preserved PPAs, and 1,089 individuals across 142 species were from the degraded PPAs. According to these results, the preserved PPAs were richer in species composition than in the degraded PPAs (245.5 ± 34.36 and 213.3 ± 34.1, respectively), in addition to being more abundant in terms of individuals. The importance value index (IVI) was well distributed among the species. All the degraded PPAs presented signs of erosion. It was concluded that the reduced width of the PPAs (5-20 m) under the current native vegetation protection policy would result in a loss of the environmental functions sought by the legislation.. RESUMO As Áreas de Preservação Permanente (APPs) de canais de drenagem podem se apresentar através das formações florestais, savânicas e campestres, sendo que a faixa legal de vegetação para manter suas funções ambientais era de, no mínimo 30 metros marginas (Antigo Código Florestal). Atualmente, a política de proteção da vegetação nativa prevê entre cinco a 20 metros marginais para a recomposição de determinadas áreas degradadas até 2008. Este estudo avaliou e comparou a estrutura da vegetação lenhosa de 10 APPs preservadas (considerando-se o antigo Código) e 10 APPs degradadas (exceções da atual legislação ambiental), no município de Mineiros, sudoeste Goiano. Foram definidas 60 parcelas com dimensão de 15x30 m e todos os indivíduos lenhosos com DAP ≥ 5 cm foram amostrados. Foram registrados 2.662 indivíduos distribuídos em 208 espécies, dos quais 1.573 indivíduos pertencentes a 167 espécies são das APPs preservadas e, 1.089 indivíduos distribuídos em 142 espécies são das APPs degradadas. A partir dos resultados, observou-se uma maior riqueza estimada de espécies para as APPs preservadas do que para as degradadas (245,5 ± 34,36 e 213,3 ± 34,1, respectivamente), assim como maior abundância de indivíduos. O IVI foi bem distribuído entre as espécies. Todas as APPs degradadas apresentaram processos erosivos. Conclui-se que a redução da metragem da APPs entre cinco e vinte metros marginais previstas na atual política de proteção da vegetação nativa, acarretará em perda das funções ambientais prevista na legislação.

In frogs, acoustic signals are the most important communication mechanism, since they may be used in several social contexts. In many anurans, the dominant frequency of calls is negatively related to body size, and in such species, this spectral parameter may be considered a good predictor of fighting ability. We experimentally investigated the vocal behavior of 30 male Hypsiboas goianus in central Brazil to answer the following questions: (1) Do males change the acoustic parameters of their calls in response to conspecific intruders? and (2) Does the acoustic behavior of H. goianus depend on the simulated body size of their opponent? We used playback of synthesized calls with high (3573 Hz) and low (3123 Hz) dominant frequency to simulate small and large males, respectively. Males reduced the rate of advertisement calling in response to playback but did not change vocal behavior in response to low-frequency and high-frequency playback. So, while males adjust their calling activity in response to simulated conspecifics, there was no evidence that they assess the fighting ability of their opponents through acoustic interactions., We acknowledge CNPq (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, process 476800/2011-0) and ICMBio (Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade) for the financial and logistical support, respectively. R.P. Bastos (process 304363/2010-3) and M.N. Siqueira are grateful to CNPq and A.R. Morais to CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) and PAPPE/IF (Programa de Apoio à Produtividade em Pesquisa – IF Goiano) for fellowships. ICMbio is thanked for providing collecting permits. Call analyses and archiving in Fonoteca Zoológica (www.fonozoo.com) are partly funded by projects TATANKA (CGL2011-25062) and (CGL2010-09700_E) from Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Spain (PI. R. Márquez).

Barycholos ternetzi is an anuran species from the Brazilian Cerrado which can be found in gallery forests and Cerrado sensu strictu. Currently, the only available information about the natural history of B. ternetzi is a previous description of its advertisement call. Herein, we studied the vocal repertoire of this species in October 2009 at Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Goias state, Central Brazil. We recognized four distinct vocalizations, of which the advertisement call was the most common. The aggressive call was emitted in response to a neighbor male, while the distress and fighting calls were emitted, respectively, when the male was caught or during physical interactions. We also observed that the dominant frequency was influenced by call duration and body size, while the call duration and repetition rate were influenced by air temperature. Furthermore, we observed that the chorus size influenced the repetition rate of the advertisement call of B. ternetzi.

The knowledge about the conservation status of species is an important data for conservation biology. Therefore, threatened species lists are a powerful tool for conservation planning and prioritization. Our objective is to compare the global, the national and state red lists of amphibians in Brazil. Threatened species were categorized according to their listing in one or several of these lists. We analyzed for true inconsistencies across lists in order to evaluate practical consequences of such incongruences on amphibian conservation in Brazil. We recorded a total of 61 threatened amphibian species in Brazil (across all red lists). Only one species, Phrynomedusa fimbriata, was listed as Extinct (both in IUCN, Brazil and Sao Paulo lists). A total of eleven endemic species are listed as threatened by the global red list, but do not appear in Brazil’s national red list, which represent an inconsistence among these lists. Besides that, the threat category of Thoropa lutzi and Thoropa petropolitana, two endemic species, differ among both lists, which also represents a problem between both lists. These mismatches may be due to several reasons such as different interpretation of the criteria; different methodologies used; different data availability on species; differences in the dates of assessments processes; the assessors’ attitudes to uncertainty; outdated red lists. Harmonization among red lists permits a better picture of threatened amphibian diversity across scales and to develop global, national and state plans to complement conservation actions in order to maximize the chance of success of these initiatives.

Aspects of natural history, such as the advertisement call, of many frog species from central Brazil are unknown. This kind of vocalization is important for specific recognition, thus studies describing these calls are needed. Herein we describe the advertisement calls of three anuran species from the Cerrado Biome: (a) Allobates goianus (Aromobatidae); (b) Odontophrynus salvatori (Cycloramphidae); (c) Lysapsus caraya (Hylidae). From October to December/2001 and March/2009, the vocalizations of individuals of these species were recorded in three municipalities in Goias state: Alto Paraiso, Araguapaz and Silvânia. The advertisement calls emitted by A. goianus presented modulation of frequency and those vocalizations emitted by O. salvatori and L. caraya showed pulsioned structure. In general, these species presented advertisement calls different from those emitted by other species in the same genus. This difference reinforces the importance of the advertisement calls for specific recognition and ...

Acoustic communication plays an important role in the social behavior of anurans. Acoustic signals, which can be used in different contexts such as mate attraction and territory defense, may mediate social interactions among individuals. Herein, we used playback experiments to test whether males of Hypsiboas goianus (Lutz, 1968) change their vocal behavior in response to conspecific advertisement calls. Specifically, we used different field playback experiments in which we modified the time interval between advertisement calls to simulate males with distinct states of motivation (Sequence A and B). We did not observe differences in the acoustic response of males of H. goianus between the two types of field playback experiments. On the other hand, we observed that H. goianus males reduce the dominant frequency of the advertisement call and increase the rate of aggressive calls in response to a conspecific competitor. Our results suggest that the acoustic plasticity observed in males of H. goianus represents an aggressive response that allows repelling conspecific individuals.

O Brasil é possuidor da maior riqueza de espécies de anfíbios no mundo, apesar disso, inventários sobre anuros no Cerrado, o segundo maior Bioma do país, são escassos. A forte pressão antrópica, o alto grau de endemismo e declínio de populações de anuros registrados nesse bioma reforçam a importância desses estudos. Especificamente, não existem inventários de anuros para os Covais, uma fitofisionomia dentro dos Campos, subsistema do bioma Cerrado. O presente trabalho apresenta um levantamento de espécies de anuros em duas situações de conservação no município de Jataí, sudoeste do Estado de Goiás: Covais preservados e ocupados por agricultura. Foram registradas 17 espécies distribuídas em sete gêneros e quatro famílias no Coval preservado e 4 espécies no ocupado por agricultura. Acentuada sobreposição temporal e espacial foi observada entre espécies filogeneticamente próximas.