Comparing leaf litter anuran diversity in two habitats of an Atlantic Forest area in Rio de Janeiro State, Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

We compared species richness, relative abundance, density (ind/100 m2) and biomass per hectare (g/ha) of leaf-litter anurans between forest and restinga habitats in an insular Atlantic Forest area in southeastern Brazil. The local assemblage of leaf litter anurans was composed by nine species (eight of them occurring in the forest and six in the restinga), of which the most abundant were Ischnocnema parva and Adenomera marmorata in the forest, and I. parva and Dendrophryniscus lauroi in the restinga. The estimated local density of leaf-litter anurans was 11.7 ind/100m2 (biomass per hectare = 848.4 g/ha) in forest and 7.3 ind/100m2 in restinga (biomass per hectare = 262.8 g/ha). Anuran species richness, estimated densities and biomass in the restinga were lower than that of the forest, probably due to the less favorable environmental conditions of restingas for amphibians.