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Neotropical primary productivity affects biomass of the leaf-litter herpetofaunal assemblage

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2012

Jessica L. Deichmann ,
Catherine A. Toft ,
Peter M. Deichmann ,
Albertina P. Lima  and
G. Bruce Williamson
Jessica L. Deichmann*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, 107 Life Sciences Building, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, C. P. 478, Manaus, AM 69011-970, Brazil
Catherine A. Toft
Affiliation:
Department of Evolution and Ecology, College of Biological Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Peter M. Deichmann
Affiliation:
Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary, Mass Audubon, Westport, MA02790, USA
Albertina P. Lima
Affiliation:
Coordenação de Pesquisas em Ecologia, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, C. P. 478, Manaus, AM 69060-001, Brazil
G. Bruce Williamson
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, 107 Life Sciences Building, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803, USA Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, C. P. 478, Manaus, AM 69011-970, Brazil
*
1Corresponding author. Email: jessiedeichmann@gmail.com
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Abstract:

Soil fertility and plant productivity are known to vary across the Amazon Basin partially as a function of geomorphology and age of soils. Using data on herpetofaunal abundance collected from 5 × 5 m and 6 × 6 m plots in mature tropical forests, we tested whether variation in community biomass of litter frogs and lizards across ten Neotropical sites could be explained by cation exchange capacity, primary productivity or stem turnover rate. About half of the variation in frog biomass (48%) could be attributed to stem turnover rate, while over two-thirds of the variation in lizard biomass (69%) was explained by primary productivity. Biomass variation in frogs resulted from variation in abundance and size, and abundance was related to cation exchange capacity (45% of variation explained), but size was not. Lizard biomass across sites varied mostly with individual lizard size, but not with abundance, and size was highly dependent on primary productivity (85% of variation explained). Soil fertility and plant productivity apparently affect secondary consumers like frogs and lizards through food webs, as biomass is transferred from plants to herbivorous arthropods to secondary consumers.

Keywords

Amazoniaamphibiansbiomassgeomorphologylizardsprimary productivityspecies richness
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 28 , Issue 5 , September 2012 , pp. 427 - 435
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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