Temporal distribution and diversity of reproductive modes in anuran amphibians in the Emas National Park and surrounding area, state of Goias, Brazil

Temporal distribution and diversity of reproductive modes in anuran amphibians in the Emas National Park and surrounding area, state of Goias, Brazil. The communities of anuran amphibians, especially in tropical regions, are directly influenced by environmental conditions, which play an important role in structuring and regulating communities. This study aimed to determine the diversity of reproductive modes, season of vocalization and to test correlation among climatic variables and richness, abundance of adult frogs and tadpoles, and activity of vocalization of males in 12 water bodies located in and around the Emas National Park, southwestern state of Goias, Brazil. Sixteen samples were carried out between December 2005 and March 2008. A total of 25 species from five families were recorded: Bufonidae (one species), Hylidae (nine species), Leptodactylidae (eight species), Leiuperidae (six species) and Microhylidae (one species). Four patterns of reproductive activity were recognized among the species: continuous, intermediate, long and explosive. The richness of adult frogs, the abundance and activity of the calling males were positively related to air temperature, humidity and precipitation. The richness of tadpoles was positively related to precipitation and water temperature, but there was no relationship between the abundance of tadpoles with no descriptors of climate. Six reproductive modes were recorded, 56% of species had widespread aquatic reproductive modes (mode 1 and 4) and 44% deposit eggs in nests of foam (modes 11, 13, 30 and 32). The species recorded in this study showed a predominance of reproductive modes and general reproductive pattern typically associated with the warm and rainy period, as expected for tropical and seasonal regions. However, the temporal segregation between groups of species within the rainy season seems to facilitate the coexistence of generalist species typical of open and/or anthropogenic areas.