Effects of establishment of grazing areas on diversity of amphibian communities in tropical evergreen forests and mountain cloud forests of the Sierra Madre Oriental

The establishment of grazing areas in humid tropical environments is one of the causes of amphibian population decline. This work evaluates the consequences of the establishment of grazing areas on amphibian communities in an area of the Sierra Madre Oriental using analyses of alpha and beta diversity. Sampling was conducted at 28 locations, 7 in tropical evergreen forest (TEF), 7 in mountain cloud forest (MCF), 7 in tropical grazing areas (TGA), and 7 in cloud forest grazing areas (CFGA) using the method of direct sampling. Amphibian diversity is reduced when the grazing areas are established in tropical environments (TGA, 8 species; 7.1 effective species and TEF, 10 species; 7.7 effective species); in contrast, the CFGA has a greater diversity (11 species; 9.3 effective species) compared with MCF (8 species; 3.9 effective species). The most dissimilar composition was found between the 2 communities of undisturbed forests (MCF-TEF; Jaccard dissimilarity 0.78). Establishment of grazing areas in TEF strongly influences the reduction of amphibian populations when compared with MCF.