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Msc. Camila F. Moser
Undergraduate thesis

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Thesis

The sharing of spatial resources by several species is quite common in anuran amphibians, due to reproductive congregations in the same body of water.

By monitoring anurans for consecutive nights during the reproductive period, it is possible to calculate the area that each individual uses for reproduction.


Furthermore, monitoring how anurans move in space can provide very important information about their natural history.

We can also estimate daily commute by measuring the distances between points.
And, also, to assess whether individuals are faithful to the reproductive site. Or, on a finer scale, to assess whether, within the reproductive site, they are faithful to the vocalization site.


​Considering that they are sister species, with somewhat similar ecologies, but with some particularities, do these species differ in the use of spatial resources?


Results

Regarding the area of use, there was no significant difference between the species. The same was observed for daily displacement.


However, the recapture rate of Boana bischoffi was significantly lower than that of Boana marginata. This suggests that we may be underestimating the home range and daily movement of this species.


Furthermore, the home range of B. marginata was small when compared to the home ranges of other anurans that were considered species with high site fidelity. This suggests that B. marginata also appears to have high fidelity to the vocalization site.


It is possible to note that the points are distributed in different ways along axis 1, where Boana bischoffi is more related to micro-habitats further away from the water body and with a greater proportion of vegetation cover, while Boana marginata is more related to micro-habitats close to the water body and with little vegetation.

These differences were also corroborated by the One Way ANOVA test, where only the variable distance from water and low vegetation were significantly different.

The species demonstrated a considerable difference in niche breadth in relation to distance from water. This result corroborates our last hypothesis.
Discussion


Using vocalization sites with little vegetation and close to water can favor the reproduction of B. marginata, since it is adapted to these environments.


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