The rainbow trout is affecting the occupancy of native amphibians in Patagonia

In this work, we assessed the occupancy of two native amphibian species of the Valcheta stream in the Somuncura Plateau, northern Patagonia: the Valcheta frog, Pleurodema somuncurense and the Argentine common toad, Rhinella arenarum . We hypothesized that the occupancy of both amphibian species will...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hydrobiologia 2018-07, Vol.817 (1), p.447-455
Main Authors: Velasco, M. A., Berkunsky, I., Simoy, M. V., Quiroga, S., Bucciarelli, G., Kats, L., Kacoliris, F. P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphibians
Analysis
Aquatic reptiles
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Ecology
Endangered animals
Endangered species
Fishes
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Freshwater fishes
Frogs
Headwaters
Indigenous species
Invasive Species II
Land management
Life Sciences
Occupancy
Oncorhynchus mykiss
Plateaus
Predators
Reptiles & amphibians
Rivers
Species
Surveys
Toads
Trout
Water temperature
Zoology
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Summary:In this work, we assessed the occupancy of two native amphibian species of the Valcheta stream in the Somuncura Plateau, northern Patagonia: the Valcheta frog, Pleurodema somuncurense and the Argentine common toad, Rhinella arenarum . We hypothesized that the occupancy of both amphibian species will be shaped by the presence of trout; we also expected a decline in occupancy assuming that the new predator in the system will affect native amphibian populations. Between December 2014 and March 2015, we conducted surveys in 148 sites along the headwaters of Valcheta stream. We modelled the occupancy by including the presence of trout, the temperature of water and the coverage of rocks and vegetation as site-habitat covariates. Models including trout were among the best ranked for both amphibian species. The presence of trout reduced the occupancy of both species and the magnitude of this reduction was much higher in the Valcheta frog than in the Argentine common toad. Overall, our results are of great relevance for land managers considering that the Valcheta frog is among the only three IUCN Critically Endangered amphibians in Argentina.
ISSN:0018-8158
1573-5117
DOI:10.1007/s10750-017-3450-6