Ecosphere最新文献

{"title":"Weather and leaf age separately contribute to temporal shifts in phyllosphere fungal community structure in sagebrush","authors":"Jacob A. Heil,&nbsp;Allison Simler-Williamson,&nbsp;Miranda L. Striluk,&nbsp;Danielle Trawick,&nbsp;Rachel Capezza,&nbsp;Chadwick DeFehr,&nbsp;Aubrey Osorio,&nbsp;Bruce Finney,&nbsp;Kathryn G. Turner,&nbsp;Leonora S. Bittleston","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70295","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70295","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Microbial communities living on plant leaves can positively or negatively influence plant health and, by extension, can impact whole ecosystems. Most research into the leaf microbiome consists of snapshots, and little is known about how microbial communities change over time. Weather and host physiological characteristics change over time and are often collinear with other time-varying factors, such as substrate availability, making it difficult to separate the factors driving microbial community change. We leveraged repeated measures over the course of an entire year to isolate the relative importance of environmental, host physiological, and substrate age-related factors on the structure of leaf-associated fungal communities. We applied both culturing and sequencing approaches to investigate these communities, focusing on a foundational, widely distributed plant of conservation concern: basin big sagebrush (<i>Artemisia tridentata</i> subsp. <i>tridentata</i>). We found that changes in alpha diversity were independently affected by the age of leaves and the air temperature. Total fungal abundance and species richness were not positively correlated and responded differently, sometimes oppositely, to weather. With regard to beta diversity, communities were more similar to each other across similar leaf ages, air temperatures, leaf types, and δ¹³C stable isotope ratios. Nine different genera were differentially abundant with air temperature, δ¹³C, leaf type, and leaf age, and a set of 20 genera were continuously present across the year. Our findings highlight the necessity for longer term, repeated sampling to parse drivers of temporal change in leaf microbial communities.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70295","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197379","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Handheld lidar sensors can accurately measure aboveground biomass","authors":"David H. Atkins,&nbsp;Ryan C. Blackburn,&nbsp;Daniel C. Laughlin,&nbsp;Margaret M. Moore,&nbsp;Andrew J. Sánchez Meador","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70232","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70232","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Many recent studies have explored remote sensing approaches to facilitate non-destructive sampling of aboveground biomass (AGB). Lidar platforms (e.g., iPhone and iPad PRO models) have recently made remote sensing technologies widely available and present an alternative to traditional approaches for estimating AGB. Lidar approaches can be completed within a fraction of the time required by many analog methods. However, it is unknown if handheld sensors are capable of accurately predicting AGB or how different modeling techniques affect prediction accuracy. Here, we collected AGB from 0.25-m² plots (<i>N</i> = 45) from three sites along an elevational gradient within rangelands surrounding Flagstaff, Arizona, USA. Each plot was scanned with a mobile laser scanner (MLS) and iPad before plants were clipped, dried, and weighed. We compared the capability of iPad and MLS sensors to estimate AGB via minimization of model normalized root mean square error (NRMSE). This process was performed on predictor subsets describing structural, spectral, and field-based characteristics across a suite of modeling approaches including simple linear, stepwise, lasso, and random forest regression. We found that models developed from MLS and iPad data were equally capable of predicting AGB (NRMSE 26.6% and 29.3%, respectively) regardless of the variable subsets considered. We also found that stepwise regression regularly resulted in the lowest NRMSE. Structural variables were consistently selected during each modeling approach, while spectral variables were rarely included. Field-based variables were important in linear regression models but were not included after variable selection within random forest models. These findings support the notion that remote sensing techniques offer a valid alternative to analog field-based data collection methods. Together, our results demonstrate that data collected using a more widely available platform will perform similarly to a more costly option and outline a workflow for modeling AGB using remote sensing systems alone.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70232","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Land use change converts temperate dryland landscape into a net methane source","authors":"Uthara Vengrai,&nbsp;Katherine M. Tucker,&nbsp;William K. Lauenroth,&nbsp;Ingrid C. Burke","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70300","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Drylands cover approximately 40% of the global land surface and are thought to contribute significantly to the soil methane sink. However, large-scale methane budgets have not fully considered the influence of agricultural land use change in drylands, which often includes irrigation to create land cover types that support hay or grains for livestock production. These land cover types may represent a small proportion of the landscape but could disproportionately contribute to land–atmosphere methane exchange and are currently omitted in estimates of dryland methane fluxes. We measured methane fluxes among big sagebrush, introduced wetlands, and hay meadows in a semiarid temperate dryland in Wyoming, USA, to investigate how these small-scale irrigated land cover types contributed to landscape-scale methane dynamics over the summer of 2021. Big sagebrush ecosystems dominated the landscape, while the introduced wetlands and hay meadows represented approximately 1% and 12%, respectively. Methane uptake was consistent in the big sagebrush ecosystems, emissions and uptake were variable in the hay meadows, and emissions were consistent in the introduced wetlands. Despite making up 1% of the total land area, methane production in the introduced wetlands overwhelmed consumption occurring throughout the rest of the landscape, making this region a net methane source. Our work suggests that introduced wetlands and other irrigated land cover types created for livestock production may represent a significant, previously overlooked source of anthropogenic methane in this region and perhaps in drylands globally.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70300","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Nitrogen input enhances the impacts of emigration and immigration on plant species composition in a temperate grassland","authors":"Zhengru Ren,&nbsp;Yuqiu Zhang,&nbsp;Haining Lu,&nbsp;Xu Chen,&nbsp;Ruoxuan Liu,&nbsp;Jungang Chen,&nbsp;Yunhai Zhang","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70301","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70301","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Human-induced increase in atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition has decreased species diversity at the local scale (α diversity) over global grasslands. However, whether and how biodiversity at the larger spatial scale (γ diversity) responds to N deposition remains an open question. As γ diversity is affected by both α diversity and β diversity (i.e., diversity among localities), it is important to explore the spatiotemporal response of β diversity under N enrichment. A field N addition (10 g N m⁻² year⁻¹) experiment was conducted from 2014 in an Inner Mongolian grassland, China. A metacommunity consisting of four permanent 1 m × 1 m quadrats (local communities) within each experimental plot was established. Thus, there were eight metacommunities for each treatment. By collecting plant species richness and composition over the first six consecutive years (2015–2020), we found that N addition decreased α and γ diversity, but did not alter β diversity at the community level and its temporal change (Δβ diversity) at the species level. Nitrogen addition increased the magnitudes of species temporal migration (both emigration and immigration) on Δβ diversity at the species level. But N addition did not change the role of species relative coverage on the relationship between species temporal migration and Δβ diversity at the species level. Therefore, our study suggests that species temporal gain and loss do play important roles in shaping community assembly under N addition in the temperate grassland.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70301","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197378","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Invasive species invoke a lifetime of trophic change in native stream fishes","authors":"Jessica O. Diallo,&nbsp;Julian D. Olden","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70304","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70304","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Trophic interactions operate across the lifetime of an individual organism, yet our understanding of these processes is largely limited to a single life stage or moment in time. Management and conservation implications of this knowledge gap are particularly important, given the mounting number, spread, and ecological impacts of invasive species. Biotracers, such as carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of animal muscle, are commonly used to characterize the trophic ecology of an individual but fail to capture intraindividual variation and ontogenetic dietary shifts. However, recent work suggests that eye lenses may facilitate the reconstruction of individual lifetime trophic trajectories for fishes, including the chronology of past trophic positions of and carbon flow to consumers. By combining stable isotope analysis of fish eye lens tissue with aging techniques (otolith growth measurements), this study is the first to ask how the lifetime trophic niches of individuals vary within different community contexts. The results provide evidence for asymmetric competition causing differing trajectories in lifetime trophic niches for native and nonnative fishes along an invasion gradient in Burro Creek, Arizona, USA. Native roundtail chub, Sonora sucker, and desert sucker all displayed a coordinated displacement of lifetime trophic trajectories to a lower trophic level and reliance on aquatic, rather than terrestrial, resources as indicated by a shift to lower δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N in mixed, relative to native-only, communities. By contrast, the trophic trajectories of nonnative green sunfish and bullhead species remained consistent between native and nonnative dominated communities. The presence of nonnative species led to a significantly greater decrease in δ¹³C through ontogeny for roundtail chub, a species of conservation concern in Arizona. These results demonstrate the prolonged trophic impact of nonnative fishes on native fishes beyond a single life stage. Displacement of ontogenetic dietary shifts by native fishes through interactions with nonnative species may lead to reduced fish growth and fitness, with implications at the population and ecosystem levels. Stable isotope analysis of fish eye lens tissue offers new opportunities to study the lifetime chronology of individual feeding habits and allows for exploration of the impacts of invasive species and environmental change throughout ontogeny.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70304","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prescribed fire leads a pine flatwoods specialist treefrog to seek local refugia","authors":"Ian Biazzo,&nbsp;Pedro F. Quintana-Ascencio","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70296","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Pine savannas of the southeastern United States evolved with frequent low-intensity wildfires. Today, land managers use prescribed fires to restore this ecological process while also controlling vegetative fuel accumulation. Given the ubiquitous application of this management tool, studies should consider impacts on target and nontarget taxa in these systems. During fires, animal populations persist in the landscape when individuals emigrate to unburned areas or seek refugia within the burn zone; otherwise, they experience local extirpation. We examined the effect of prescribed fires on a pine flatwoods specialist frog, the pinewoods treefrog <i>Dryophytes femoralis</i>, in a frequently burned pine landscape. Treefrogs, though usually not considered explicitly in burn plans, are a good model system because they are often abundant, have both upland and wetland needs, spend most of their lives out of water, have limited mobility, and have skin susceptible to desiccation. We compared variation in abundance and survival in a before-after-control-impact study with prescribed fire as the experimental treatment. We used 240 plastic pipe refugia to sample populations in 8 circular plots over 27 months and 7 independent prescribed fires (one fire spanned two plots). Plots received prescribed fire during the growing season (March–July) in 2020 (<i>N</i> = 3 plots) or 2021 (<i>N</i> = 5 plots). We removed pipes from the plot before the burn and from another plot not getting burned that day to control for pipe removal impacts, then returned all pipes immediately after the fire. We observed 1805 individuals with 1790 additional recaptures. We modeled population trends and survival using mark-recapture techniques and mixed linear models with a Bayesian framework. Apparent survival was commensurate across plots and prescribed fire treatments after controlling for the effects of the pipe removal, and population trends were similar overall. We observed seasonal variation in survival, with populations showing lower apparent survival during wet-season months. The limited impact of low-intensity prescribed fires on apparent survival suggests that pinewoods treefrogs persist in the landscape by seeking refugia. Future work and management should consider possible refugia for target and nontarget taxa while continuing to focus on the physiognomy of pine savannas in burn plans.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70296","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"DNA metabarcoding provides new insight into the diet of invasive chital deer (Axis axis) in a tropical savanna landscape","authors":"Matthew J. Quin,&nbsp;Ben T. Hirsch,&nbsp;Lin Schwarzkopf,&nbsp;Kurt Watter,&nbsp;Anthony Pople,&nbsp;Jan M. Strugnell","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70288","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70288","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The introduction of non-native species into new environments can cause significant ecological harm and is considered a major conservation threat. As populations of invasive species continue to establish and increase across the globe, novel methods can provide new insights into their biology and potentially aid in management. In this study, we examined the diet of non-native chital deer (<i>Axis axis</i>) in a tropical savanna environment in northern Australia. Using DNA metabarcoding of fecal samples, we described the dietary items consumed by 149 individuals over a two-year sampling period and associated each item with individual body condition. The DNA metabarcoding method detected significantly more dietary items consumed by individual chital deer at each of the taxonomic levels (family, genus, and species) when compared with previous analyses. We observed marked differences in diet composition across multiple seasons and sites. Significantly more sequences from the genera <i>Terminalia</i>, <i>Diospyros</i>, <i>Jasminum</i>, and <i>Hakea</i> were detected in samples collected from individuals in poor condition during the dry season, suggesting that a different suite of food resources is being consumed by a subset of individuals during periods when forage quantity and quality is low. Most notably, our results indicated that chital are consuming a browse-dominated diet throughout the year, differing from previous macroscopy analyses which suggested chital are predominantly grazers during the wet season in northern Australia. Our findings give support for the use of DNA metabarcoding to qualitatively assess diet composition compared to macroscopic analysis and suggest that the restricted availability of food during the dry season may result in the consumption of poor quality and detrimental dietary items.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70288","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multiple factors explain species-specific regeneration of mangrove seedlings and saplings after a major hurricane","authors":"Veronica B. Restrepo,&nbsp;Edward Castañeda-Moya,&nbsp;John S. Kominoski,&nbsp;Elena Solohin","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70298","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70298","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Mangroves play a crucial role in mitigating hurricane impacts in coastal ecosystems, and their adaptive traits enable regeneration and forest recovery following these disturbances. Yet, how species-specific regeneration varies across life stages and interacts with environmental conditions is poorly understood. We quantified regeneration rates of three dominant species of mangrove seedlings and saplings (<i>Avicennia germinans</i>, <i>Laguncularia racemosa</i>, and <i>Rhizophora mangle</i>) recovering from a major hurricane. We selected forests with varying light availability and phosphorus (P) gradients in the Everglades (Florida, USA). From 2020 to 2022, we measured biannual stem elongation, height, and density of seedlings and saplings, and collected porewater variables (salinity, sulfide, and inorganic nutrients) and continuous light intensity to assess species-specific drivers of regeneration. Species-specific growth rates, total height, and density varied across sites, driven by differences in porewater P and light. Growth rates of <i>R. mangle</i> seedlings and both <i>R. mangle</i> and <i>L. racemosa</i> saplings were influenced by light, while <i>A. germinans</i> growth rates were unaffected. Only <i>R. mangle</i> and <i>L. racemosa</i> saplings were influenced by porewater P, while growth of both seedlings and saplings was unaffected by porewater salinity and sulfide. Mangrove regeneration post-disturbance is explained by spatial differences in subsidies and stressors and the composition of species and life stages, underscoring complex regeneration strategies in mixed-species forests.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 6","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70298","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144197278","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Integrating individual tracking data and spatial surveys to improve estimation of animal spatial distribution","authors":"Valentin Lauret,&nbsp;Nicolas Courbin,&nbsp;Olivier Scher,&nbsp;Aurélien Besnard","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70283","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70283","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Tracking data and spatial surveys (e.g., counts) contribute to understanding animal distribution despite highlighting complementary aspects of habitat selection, from detailed insights on few individuals to raw inferences for the population, respectively. Here, we showcased how to combine individual tracking and count data to estimate habitat selection at the population level. We developed an integrated model that provides a joint estimation of habitat selection for tracking data fitted with a resource selection function (RSF) and count data fitted with a Poisson generalized linear model (GLM), both respecting the statistical conditions for converging with an inhomogeneous Poisson point process. We tested our integrated habitat selection model using simulated movement data and a real case study of GPS-tracked Sandwich terns (<i>Thalasseus sandvicensis</i>) in the French Mediterranean Sea. Simulations showed that the integrated model correctly estimated habitat selection coefficients and benefited from both data sources with better accuracy and precision than RSF and Poisson GLM alone, especially when data are limited. Overall, our study formalized an easy-to-use approach for the integration of tracking and count data to estimate habitat selection, contributing to a promising research avenue, since individual tracking and spatial survey monitoring are abundant in many ecological contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70283","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144140728","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Traditional water structures in villages support amphibian populations within a protected landscape","authors":"Jose W. Valdez,&nbsp;Jeremy Dertien,&nbsp;Haruna Fimmel,&nbsp;Tim Eric Kaufmann,&nbsp;Carolin Kremer,&nbsp;Leonie Schilling,&nbsp;Lena Hartmann,&nbsp;Isabell Hummel,&nbsp;Horst Paul Uellendahl,&nbsp;Asha Majeed,&nbsp;Henrique M. Pereira","doi":"10.1002/ecs2.70294","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.70294","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Amphibians are among the most globally threatened vertebrates, with habitat loss and degradation being the primary drivers of their decline. While natural waterbodies are essential for amphibian survival, artificial habitats can also serve as important refuges, particularly in human-altered landscapes. This study investigates the role of artificial waterbodies in supporting amphibian populations within villages and disturbed areas of Peneda-Gerês National Park (PNPG), a protected area in northern Portugal. We surveyed 162 waterbodies, 68 artificial (tanks, drains, fountains, and cave-like structures) and 94 natural (ponds, streams, stream pockets, and caves) sites within human-altered areas to assess community composition, species richness, Shannon diversity, relative abundance, proportion of occupied sites, and breeding activity. We recorded 10 amphibian species, with species composition showing moderate overlap between the two habitat types, indicating both shared and distinct species assemblages. Natural waterbodies had higher observed species richness (nine species) than artificial sites (seven species). Shannon diversity was greater in natural waterbodies for adults, while juvenile/larvae diversity was greater in artificial habitats. <i>Rana iberica</i> was the most widespread species, found across all waterbody types but predominantly in natural sites. <i>Salamandra salamandra</i> juveniles/larvae were also primarily found and bred in natural habitats, especially stream pockets. In contrast, <i>Lissotriton boscai</i> and <i>Triturus marmoratus</i> were more commonly found and bred in artificial waterbodies, particularly historic water tanks. Natural waterbodies had a higher proportion of their sites occupied (76.6%) compared to artificial ones (51.5%), with stream pockets having the highest at 96.6% and other natural sites around two-thirds. Among artificial sites, tanks were highest with 62.5% occupied. Breeding occurred in one-fifth of surveyed sites, with breeding events recorded in half of stream pockets and over a quarter of tanks. Tanks supported the highest number of breeding species (four of five), compared to three in natural habitats. These findings highlight the importance of water tanks, traditionally used for laundry and water storage, in supporting amphibians in PNPG. They underscore the need to conserve both natural and artificial habitats to protect amphibian biodiversity, especially in human-altered landscapes where artificial waterbodies provide crucial refuges as climate change reduces natural breeding sites.</p>","PeriodicalId":48930,"journal":{"name":"Ecosphere","volume":"16 5","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ecs2.70294","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144140690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}