The relationships between adjacent land-use, in-stream properties, and amphibian assemblages in low order streams of Lien-Hua-Chih

• Main Authors: Fang-RuLiu, 劉芳如
• Other Authors: Ping-Chun Lucy Hou
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/71524987817085796537

碩士 === 國立成功大學 === 生物多樣性研究所 === 98 === Knowledge about organism-habitat association is important to conservation and management of a species, especially when habitat loss is one of the major threats to global biodiversity. Stream systems providing critical resources for amphibians are often degraded and modified by anthropogenic activities which may have adverse effects on stream-related amphibians. This study investigated the relationships between amphibian assemblages and stream-riparian properties in a headwater system located in Central Taiwan from May 2008 to July 2009. Seventeen reaches along the two streams were setup to survey amphibian assemblages and environmental properties monthly. Land-uses in the riparian zones encompassing different widths were also determined, so that the amphibian-habitat association in various widths of riparian zones could be analyzed. Besides, the amphibian-habitat associations in streams were also analyzed at a smaller scale by dividing the reach into three subunits. The results showed that moderate development along streams in a forest dominated landscape can increase amphibian diversity in the streams by creating different habitats for the stream and pond breeding species. The amphibian assemblages in streams were associated with in-stream properties (such as embankment and channel characteristics) and the adjacent land-use. The amphibian species can be grouped according to their associations with the land-use variables as forest, neutral, and tolerant species. Densities of the forest species, Rana adenopleura, Limnonectes kuhlii, and Rana swinhoana increased with higher riparian forest cover within 50 m. Density of Rana latouchii also increased with closed canopy. Besides, densities of most species showed weak but significant correlation with emergent substrates and mesohabitat variables at the smaller scale. These results suggest a buffer zone of at least 50 m intact forest is needed for the forest species. Moreover, the management strategies for small scale habitats should be designed according to the species occurring in the focal reaches. Maintaining diverse substrates and mesohabitats in reaches may increase amphibian diversity in reaches.