Influence of Habitat Characteristics on the Páramo Frog Community in A High Andean Biosphere Reserve

Abstract

The páramo ecosystem is a centre of diversity and endemism with remarkable frog diversity. However, a number of cryptic species often leads to studies focused on discerning individual species, rather than assessing communities, which is an approach required to improve conservation decisions. Here, we compare this species level framework against a habitat guild framework while assessing the influence of habitat characteristics on the frog community in the páramos of the Macizo del Cajas Biosphere Reserve in Ecuador, a biodiversity hotspot. We used a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) of morphological characteristics to classify four habitat-guild categories (i.e., generalists, grass and shrubby páramo specialists, humid-cushion páramo specialists and rocky-páramo specialists). We then compared two detrended correspondence analyses (DCA) to explore the composition of the páramo frog community with respect to habitat characteristics. The first DCA was based on habitat guild, while the second used species or affinis. We also evaluated the abundance of habitat guilds in relation to habitat characteristics. Our findings show that the habitat guild approach is more sensitive to habitat characteristics than the species-level approach. Humid-cushion páramo specialists and rocky-páramo specialists were associated with higher elevations characterised by open habitats such as humid and rocky páramos. Grass and shrubby páramo specialists were more prevalent in semi-open habitats at lower elevations. Habitat specialised guilds are more sensitive to human disturbance in páramo habitats across the entire elevation gradient. These habitat characteristics are crucial not only for explaining the abundance of habitat-specialised frogs, but also for generalists. We conclude that habitat guild classification is a valid alternative to improve the monitoring and conservation of the páramo frog community by focusing on ecological requirements in the face of taxonomic uncertainties.