Lightly-harvested rustic cocoa is a valuable land cover for amphibian and reptile conservation in human-modified rainforest landscapes

Abstract

The conservation of tropical biodiversity depends not only on forest remnants, but also on anthropogenic land covers. Some shade crops are considered wildlife-friendly agroecosystems, but their conservation value is context- and taxon-dependent. Amphibians and reptiles have received less attention despite their high sensitivity to habitat disturbance. We determined the conservation value of lightly-harvested rustic cocoa plantations for herpetofauna in the Lacandona region, Mexico. We compared 12 environmental variables between habitats. Then, we compared the abundance, species number and composition of amphibian and reptile assemblages. Within each habitat, we explored the relationships between environmental variables and abundance and species number. Tree density, litter cover and litter depth were higher in cocoa. Abundance of reptiles and amphibians were higher in cocoa than forest; species number did not differ. Habitat explained some of the variation (8%) in assemblage composition. In cocoa, amphibian abundance was positively related to canopy height and the presence of a humus layer, while reptile abundance was negatively related to relative humidity. We conclude that lightly-used rustic cocoa plantations can be suitable habitat for forest herpetofauna. As long as cocoa plantations do not replace existing forest cover, they can play an important role in the design of wildlife-friendly tropical landscapes.