Broad-scale spatial patterns of canopy cover and pond morphology affect the structure of a Neotropical amphibian metacommunity

Abstract

Spatial and environmental processes influence species composition at distinct scales. Previous studies suggested that the distribution of larval anurans at the landscape-scale is influenced by environmental gradients related to adult breeding site selection, such as pond canopy cover, but not by water chemistry. However, the combined effects of spatial, pond morphology, and water chemistry variables on metacommunity structure of larval anurans have not been analyzed yet. We used a partial redundancy analysis with variation partitioning to analyze the relative influence of pond morphology (e.g., depth, area, and aquatic vegetation), water chemistry, and spatial variables on a tadpole metacommunity from southeastern Brazil. We predict that pond morphology and canopy cover will influence the metacommunity at broad spatial scales, while water chemistry would play a larger role at finer scales. We found that broad-scale spatial patterns of pond canopy cover and pond morphology strongly influenced metacommunity structure, with water chemistry being not significant. Additionally, species composition was spatially autocorrelated at short distances. We suggest that the reproductive behavior of adult anurans is driving tadpole metacommunity dynamics, since pond morphology, but not water chemistry affects breeding site selection by adults. Our results contribute to the understanding of amphibian species diversity in tropical wetlands.