Phylogenetic diversity and richness of anurofauna in restinga areas

• Grant number: 20/04903-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2020
• End date: June 30, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Zoology
• Principal Investigator: Ivan Sergio Nunes Silva Filho
• Grantee: Bruna da Silva Lopes
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB-CLP). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Species are the focal point in comparative studies of different areas such as systematics, ecology, evolution, conservation and biogeography. The continuous increase in the number of species with some degree of threat of extinction has been a major concern for conservation. In Brazilian anuran amphibians, we are still at the stage of description, and natural history data and how these linages were formed need to be improved. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest has a high diversity of species and endemisms, including anurans, and has been attributed to factors such as the high environments structural complexity. Among these environments, we can highlight the sandbanks (Restingas), whose vegetation cover occurs in mosaic and is found on beaches, sandy cords, dunes and depressions. At a time of concern for the future of the environment and its sustainable use, biological characteristics and geographical distribution qualify amphibians as indicators of environmental quality. Biogeography seeks to establish standards that justify the spatial configurations of living beings and the increase in this tool as an alternative for species conservation has been growing. Based on the assumption that species should not be seen as independent events, but as elements that hold a series of ancestral similarities and common functional aspects, it is expected that phylogenetically distinct species will contribute more significantly to the general measure of diversity. Therefore, our objective is to characterize the phylogenetic diversity and the richness of anuran species from the restingas of the Brazilian Atlantic coast based on the size of the territory, climate and geographical position (latitude).