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Angarita-Sierra T, Bonilla-Gómez MA, Sánchez DA, Acosta-Galvis AR, Medina-Ovalle H, Solano-Moreno A, Ulloa-Rengifo S, Guevara-Guevara D, Torres-Ramirez JJ, Curaca-Fierro S, Cabrera-Amaya DM, Infante-Betancour JA, Londoño-Montaño LF, Albarán-Montoya DX, Peña-Baez LR. Distribution, habitat suitability, conservation state and natural history of endangered salamander Bolitoglossa pandi. PeerJ 2020; 8:e9901. [PMID: 33024630 PMCID: PMC7520094 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.9901] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Pandi's mushroom-tongue salamander (Bolitoglossa pandi) is one of the threatened amphibians in South America, as well as a flagship species for the Colombian conservation agenda. This species is endemic to the Andean cloud forests of the western slope of the Cordillera Oriental of Colombia, occurring only in the department of Cundinamarca within a narrow elevational range. At night, B. pandi can be seen perching on the upper side of leaves at heights ranging from ground level to 2.5 m. During the day, it can be found under leaf litter or cover objects. Few studies have provided relevant information that can help the Colombian government to formulate lines of action for the conservation of this species; consequently, its threat assessments so far have been based on very limited information. Methods We conducted surveys for salamanders in four municipalities of Cundinamarca, Colombia, using two approaches: visual encounter surveys (Guaduas and Villeta) and the basic sampling protocol for single-species occupancy modeling (Supatá and Venecia). Multivariate analyses were employed to explore the correlation between habitat structure and natural history traits, abundance, and detection/non-detection of B. pandi. We evaluated the B. pandi activity pattern through kernel density curves for each sampling occasion and explored the variability of salamander abundance during their activity period by performing a nested ANOVA. Results We report the discovery of two new populations of B. pandi, which represent the most northwestern records known. A significant correlation between body length, body mass, and habitat structure was observed. Multivariate analyses indicated that leaf litter depth, mean temperature, percent vegetation cover, and altitude were the habitat variables that together explained 60.3% of the B. pandi abundance variability, as well as the main determinants of its optimal habitat. Bolitoglossa pandi exhibits an activity pattern characterized by two main activity peaks, in which niche time-partitioning was observed. Across the surveyed area, we found a healthy, stable, highly dense population of B. pandi (>1,300 individuals), with seasonal variability between development stages. Discussion Given the high habitat specificity of B. pandi, the species is highly vulnerable to local changes. Thus, we recommend that B. pandi be retained as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, based on the IUCN Criterion B, given its restricted extent of occurrence (ca. 2,500 km2) and the ongoing threats from agriculture, cattle ranching, logging, and urban development, which continue to reduce its suitable habitat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teddy Angarita-Sierra
- YOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, Colombia.,Vicerectoria de investigación, Universidad Manuela Beltrán, Bogotá, Colombia.,Grupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - M Argenis Bonilla-Gómez
- Grupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - David A Sánchez
- YOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, Colombia.,Instituto Amazónico de Investigaciones Científicas SINCHI, Leticia, Amazonas, Colombia
| | - Andres R Acosta-Galvis
- Colecciones Biológicas IAvH, Subdirección de Investigaciones, Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt, Villa de Leyva, Boyacá, Colombia
| | - Hefzi Medina-Ovalle
- Grupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Anggi Solano-Moreno
- Grupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Simon Ulloa-Rengifo
- Grupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Daniela Guevara-Guevara
- Grupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Juan J Torres-Ramirez
- YOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, Colombia.,Grupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Sebastián Curaca-Fierro
- Grupo de Investigación Biología de Organismos Tropicales (BIOTUN), Departamento de biología, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Diego M Cabrera-Amaya
- YOLUKA ONG, Fundación de investigación en Biodiversidad y Conservación, Bogotá, Colombia
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Galindo C, Cruz E, Bernal M. Evaluation of the combined temperature and relative humidity preferences of the Colombian terrestrial salamander Bolitoglossa ramosi (Amphibia: Plethodontidae). CAN J ZOOL 2018. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2017-0330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Temperature and humidity are critical factors for terrestrial lungless salamanders, as their body temperatures are largely determined by the environmental temperature and require moisture to sustain cutaneous respiration. Herein, we evaluated the preference of Bolitoglossa ramosi Brame and Wake, 1972 between a high temperature and a high relative humidity (RH), the influence of temperature on RH preferences, and the influence of RH on the thermal preferences. This study was performed in a field location in the municipality of Líbano, Tolima, Colombia. There, on different nights, we collected 84 adult B. ramosi and carried out the preference experiments, using aluminum troughs with different thermal and RH gradients. We found that between high temperature and high RH, B. ramosi preferred high RH. However, B. ramosi selected high temperatures when the gradient had a high RH and low temperatures when the gradient had a low RH. These results show that B. ramosi is able to thermoregulate and hydroregulate. Nevertheless, hydroregulation seems to be more important than thermoregulation because B. ramosi always selected the high RH gradients, while their thermal selection relied on the hydric environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- C.A. Galindo
- Grupo de Herpetología, Eco-Fisiología y Etología, Universidad del Tolima, Ibagué, Colombia
- Grupo de Herpetología, Eco-Fisiología y Etología, Universidad del Tolima, Ibagué, Colombia
| | - E.X. Cruz
- Grupo de Herpetología, Eco-Fisiología y Etología, Universidad del Tolima, Ibagué, Colombia
- Grupo de Herpetología, Eco-Fisiología y Etología, Universidad del Tolima, Ibagué, Colombia
| | - M.H. Bernal
- Grupo de Herpetología, Eco-Fisiología y Etología, Universidad del Tolima, Ibagué, Colombia
- Grupo de Herpetología, Eco-Fisiología y Etología, Universidad del Tolima, Ibagué, Colombia
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