Environmental correlates of species richness and composition of riparian anuran communities in rainforests of north-western Borneo: a metacommunity perspective.

The diversity of stream anurans in Southeast Asia is highly endangered by habitat loss and fragmentation. To optimise conservation planning, their distribution patterns and habitat requirements need to be better understood. In this study, we investigated the distribution and habitat requirements of stream-associated anurans across four sites in north-western Borneo. The sites showed differences in species richness and composition. At a local scale, only microhabitat parameters and stream dynamics had a significant explanatory power on species composition. At a regional scale, environmental variables and geographical distances were both correlated with species composition, with adjacent locations having more similar species assemblages than distant locations. In order to protect the diversity of riparian anurans of north-western Borneo, protected areas need to include distant sites within the same region in addition to a diversity of habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]