Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandi
Background Pandi’s mushroom-tongue salamander (Bolitoglossa pandi) is one of the threatened amphibians in South America, as well as a flagship species for the Colombian conservation agenda. This species is endemic to the Andean cloud forests of the western slope of the Cordillera Oriental of Colombi...
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PeerJ Inc.
2020-09-01
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| author | Teddy Angarita-Sierra M. Argenis Bonilla-Gómez David A. Sánchez Andres R. Acosta-Galvis Hefzi Medina-Ovalle Anggi Solano-Moreno Simon Ulloa-Rengifo Daniela Guevara-Guevara Juan J. Torres-Ramirez Sebastián Curaca-Fierro Diego M. Cabrera-Amaya Jhon A. Infante-Betancour Luisa F. Londoño-Montaño Diana X. Albarán-Montoya Lesly R. Peña-Baez |
| author_facet | Teddy Angarita-Sierra M. Argenis Bonilla-Gómez David A. Sánchez Andres R. Acosta-Galvis Hefzi Medina-Ovalle Anggi Solano-Moreno Simon Ulloa-Rengifo Daniela Guevara-Guevara Juan J. Torres-Ramirez Sebastián Curaca-Fierro Diego M. Cabrera-Amaya Jhon A. Infante-Betancour Luisa F. Londoño-Montaño Diana X. Albarán-Montoya Lesly R. Peña-Baez |
| author_sort | Teddy Angarita-Sierra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Pandi’s mushroom-tongue salamander (Bolitoglossa pandi) is one of the threatened amphibians in South America, as well as a flagship species for the Colombian conservation agenda. This species is endemic to the Andean cloud forests of the western slope of the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, occurring only in the department of Cundinamarca within a narrow elevational range. At night, B. pandi can be seen perching on the upper side of leaves at heights ranging from ground level to 2.5 m. During the day, it can be found under leaf litter or cover objects. Few studies have provided relevant information that can help the Colombian government to formulate lines of action for the conservation of this species; consequently, its threat assessments so far have been based on very limited information. Methods We conducted surveys for salamanders in four municipalities of Cundinamarca, Colombia, using two approaches: visual encounter surveys (Guaduas and Villeta) and the basic sampling protocol for single-species occupancy modeling (Supatá and Venecia). Multivariate analyses were employed to explore the correlation between habitat structure and natural history traits, abundance, and detection/non-detection of B. pandi. We evaluated the B. pandi activity pattern through kernel density curves for each sampling occasion and explored the variability of salamander abundance during their activity period by performing a nested ANOVA. Results We report the discovery of two new populations of B. pandi, which represent the most northwestern records known. A significant correlation between body length, body mass, and habitat structure was observed. Multivariate analyses indicated that leaf litter depth, mean temperature, percent vegetation cover, and altitude were the habitat variables that together explained 60.3% of the B. pandi abundance variability, as well as the main determinants of its optimal habitat. Bolitoglossa pandi exhibits an activity pattern characterized by two main activity peaks, in which niche time-partitioning was observed. Across the surveyed area, we found a healthy, stable, highly dense population of B. pandi (>1,300 individuals), with seasonal variability between development stages. Discussion Given the high habitat specificity of B. pandi, the species is highly vulnerable to local changes. Thus, we recommend that B. pandi be retained as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, based on the IUCN Criterion B, given its restricted extent of occurrence (ca. 2,500 km2) and the ongoing threats from agriculture, cattle ranching, logging, and urban development, which continue to reduce its suitable habitat. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:08:44Z |
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| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T08:08:44Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
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| spelling | doaj.art-8b359d57031143e493dfb12bc2866d6d2023-12-02T23:35:38ZengPeerJ Inc.PeerJ2167-83592020-09-018e990110.7717/peerj.9901Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandiTeddy Angarita-Sierra0M. Argenis Bonilla-Gómez1David A. Sánchez2Andres R. Acosta-Galvis3Hefzi Medina-Ovalle4Anggi Solano-Moreno5Simon Ulloa-Rengifo6Daniela Guevara-Guevara7Juan J. Torres-Ramirez8Sebastián Curaca-Fierro9Diego M. Cabrera-Amaya10Jhon A. Infante-Betancour11Luisa F. Londoño-Montaño12Diana X. Albarán-Montoya13Lesly R. Peña-Baez14YOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, ColombiaGrupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaYOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, ColombiaColecciones Biológicas IAvH, Subdirección de Investigaciones, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, ColombiaGrupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaGrupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaGrupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaGrupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaYOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, ColombiaGrupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaYOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, ColombiaYOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, ColombiaYOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, ColombiaFundación Ecotrópico Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaFundación Ecotrópico Colombia, Bogotá, ColombiaBackground Pandi’s mushroom-tongue salamander (Bolitoglossa pandi) is one of the threatened amphibians in South America, as well as a flagship species for the Colombian conservation agenda. This species is endemic to the Andean cloud forests of the western slope of the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, occurring only in the department of Cundinamarca within a narrow elevational range. At night, B. pandi can be seen perching on the upper side of leaves at heights ranging from ground level to 2.5 m. During the day, it can be found under leaf litter or cover objects. Few studies have provided relevant information that can help the Colombian government to formulate lines of action for the conservation of this species; consequently, its threat assessments so far have been based on very limited information. Methods We conducted surveys for salamanders in four municipalities of Cundinamarca, Colombia, using two approaches: visual encounter surveys (Guaduas and Villeta) and the basic sampling protocol for single-species occupancy modeling (Supatá and Venecia). Multivariate analyses were employed to explore the correlation between habitat structure and natural history traits, abundance, and detection/non-detection of B. pandi. We evaluated the B. pandi activity pattern through kernel density curves for each sampling occasion and explored the variability of salamander abundance during their activity period by performing a nested ANOVA. Results We report the discovery of two new populations of B. pandi, which represent the most northwestern records known. A significant correlation between body length, body mass, and habitat structure was observed. Multivariate analyses indicated that leaf litter depth, mean temperature, percent vegetation cover, and altitude were the habitat variables that together explained 60.3% of the B. pandi abundance variability, as well as the main determinants of its optimal habitat. Bolitoglossa pandi exhibits an activity pattern characterized by two main activity peaks, in which niche time-partitioning was observed. Across the surveyed area, we found a healthy, stable, highly dense population of B. pandi (>1,300 individuals), with seasonal variability between development stages. Discussion Given the high habitat specificity of B. pandi, the species is highly vulnerable to local changes. Thus, we recommend that B. pandi be retained as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, based on the IUCN Criterion B, given its restricted extent of occurrence (ca. 2,500 km2) and the ongoing threats from agriculture, cattle ranching, logging, and urban development, which continue to reduce its suitable habitat.https://peerj.com/articles/9901.pdfHabitat lossThreatened speciesNiche partitioningRange extensionActivity patternMorphological variability |
| spellingShingle | Teddy Angarita-Sierra M. Argenis Bonilla-Gómez David A. Sánchez Andres R. Acosta-Galvis Hefzi Medina-Ovalle Anggi Solano-Moreno Simon Ulloa-Rengifo Daniela Guevara-Guevara Juan J. Torres-Ramirez Sebastián Curaca-Fierro Diego M. Cabrera-Amaya Jhon A. Infante-Betancour Luisa F. Londoño-Montaño Diana X. Albarán-Montoya Lesly R. Peña-Baez Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandi PeerJ Habitat loss Threatened species Niche partitioning Range extension Activity pattern Morphological variability |
| title | Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandi |
| title_full | Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandi |
| title_fullStr | Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandi |
| title_full_unstemmed | Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandi |
| title_short | Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandi |
| title_sort | distribution habitat suitability conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander bolitoglossa pandi |
| topic | Habitat loss Threatened species Niche partitioning Range extension Activity pattern Morphological variability |
| url | https://peerj.com/articles/9901.pdf |
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