Yachana Reserve Amphibian andBenthic Surveys

Pump stream surveys

February 2009 (phase 091B)

Authors

Christopher Beirne, Jonathan Escolar, Andrew Whitworth

Introduction:

Amphibians are vital indicators of environmental quality as they are so susceptible to changes inthe environment (Gardner

et al

, 2007; Lyaruu

et al

, 2000).

According to Gardner

et al

(2007) it isessential that we learn more about the patterns of diversity and habitat preferences of individual species. This data can then be used to monitor population declines and informeffective conservation strategies, particularly where amphibians act as indicators of change intheir environment.Over recent years there has been a growing concern that amphibian species are decliningworldwide. According to the Global Amphibian Assessment (GAA) almost one-third (2,030species) of the worlds 6,260 known amphibian species are listed as threatened or extinct. 1,533are classed as data deficient so many of these may also be threatened. These declines areattributed to two major factors. Habitat loss and fungal disease with possible contributions fromintroduced species, climate change and pollution.According to the GAA there are 467 species of recorded amphibians found in Ecuador, 37% of which are endemic and 37% are listed as threatened or extinct under the IUCN Red List Criteria.Even where species richness has been estimated by fieldwork, it is thought that diversityestimates have drastically underestimated the true species numbers. Over 75% of amphibiansdepend on moist forest habitats so it is vital that further fieldwork is conducted so that theamphibian biodiversity can be properly assessed and potential threats elucidated.Over the past three years GVI (Global Vision International) have been surveying amphibians inthe Yachana reserve (2000 ha) found in the Napo province of Amazonian Ecuador. This hasallowed a collation of data to provide a catalogue of species found within the reserve. 61 specieshave been idientified across the reserve so far.Over the past twelve months GVI have also been contributing towards research at PUCE(Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Ecuador). This has involved swabbing amphibians to test forthe presence/absence of chytridiomycosis, taking voucher specimens of particularspecies/species complexes and also taking skin, muscle and liver samples from voucherspecimens for genetic testing. As part of our own research we have also collated data regardinglocations around the reserve of where individuals were collected and the microhabitat wherethey were found. We now hope to expand upon our previous research into looking at localisedareas of the reserve more specifically rearding the amphibian assemblages found within theseareas.

Problem Statement:

The GVI base camp is situated in close proximity to a small stream running close to the camp inwhich water is regularly pumped out for use in daily camp life. Used water is then allowed todrain back into the local surrounding environment. Amphibians are particularly sensitive tochanges in water quality and have frequently been described as excellent indicators of waterquality and the stability of the surrounding environment. The impact that the base camp has onthe surrounding environment should be assessed to determine any adverse affects that may beavoided in future work related to daily camp living.

Objectives and significance:

The principal goal of the study is to investigate the amphibian assemblages along the pumpstream close to the GVI base camp. Surveys will be conducted in areas before water is pumpedfrom the stream and then further down stream after it has been pumped out. Throughconducting benthic surveys along the stream we can also gain a good assessment of waterquality related to invertebrate assemblages and detect any differences pre and post pumpingfrom the stream in accordance with amphibian data.

Hypotheses:

The null hypothesis would be no difference in the species found in the upper and lower areas of the pump stream region with relation to amphibians or invertebrates. The testable hypothesiswould be that the lower area of the pump stream would be lower in terms of species richnessdue to the environmental impacts on the surrounding environment, inflicted by the GVI basecamp.

Methods:

Amphibian surveying

Two main methods were implicated to assess the presence of different amphibian species alongthe lower and upper regions of the ‘pump stream’. The first of these was pitfall trapping and thesecond being visual encounter surveys:

Pitfall trapping

At two sites on both the Upper and Lower Pump Stream, Leaf-litter amphibian and lizards weresampled with pitfalls traps and drift fences. At each sample site, two 20-litre plastic bucketswere installed parallel to the stream edge. The buckets were connected via an 8 meter long, 50cm high plastic baffle. The Lower Pump Stream was sampled from the 2

of March to the 9

of March and the Upper Pump Stream was sampled from the 9

of March to the 16

. Thisresulted in 28-nights of sampling effort in each stream. All amphibians captured were collectedto remove the possibility of subsequent recapture at a later date.

Visual encounter surveys

Nocturnal and crepuscular visual encounter surveys were employed along 120m streamtransects in the Upper and Lower Pump Stream. Where possible both transects were surveyedon the same day to minimise the effect of weather variation on the amphibian assemblage. Thesurveys took place the 23

of February 2009 and the 12

of March 2009. The surveys took placeat times that have been found to coincide with peak frog activity: crepuscular surveys took placebetween 5.30am and 8.30am, and nocturnal surveys took place between 7.30pm and 10.30pm.Transects were searched at a rate of roughly one meter per minute. All amphibians found within3m of each side of the stream were captured and collected thus removing the possibility thatthey would be recaptured on a later survey. To minimise the effect of team size and transectduration variability, a measure of effort was calculated by determining the number of search