Forest fragment and breeding habitat characteristics explain frog diversity and abundance in Singapore

Biotropica

Volumn 42, Issue 1, 2010, Pages 119-125

  Bickford, David ^a   Ng, Tze How ^a   Qie, Lan ^a   Kudavidanage, Enoka P ^a   Bradshaw, Corey J A ^b,c  

^a NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE   (Singapore)

^b UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE   (Australia)

^c SOUTH AUSTRALIAN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE   (Australia)

Author keywords

Amphibians; Conservation; Deforestation; Fragmentation; Frogs

Indexed keywords

ABUNDANCE; BIODIVERSITY; BREEDING SITE; DEFORESTATION; FROG; HABITAT CONSERVATION; HABITAT FRAGMENTATION; HABITAT LOSS; HETEROGENEITY; SPECIES CONSERVATION; SPECIES RICHNESS;

SINGAPORE [SOUTHEAST ASIA];

AMPHIBIA; ANURA;

EID: 73649118159     PISSN: 00063606     EISSN: 17447429     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-7429.2009.00542.x     Document Type: Article

References (79)

1. Achard, F., H. D. Eva, H. J. Stibig, P. Mayaux, J. Gallego, T. Richards J. P. Malingreau. 2002. Determination of deforestation rates of the world's humid tropical forests. Science 297 : 999 1002.
2. Alcala, E. L., A. C. Alcala C. N. Dolino. 2004. Amphibians and reptiles in tropical rainforest fragments on Negros Island, the Philippines. Environ. Conserv. 31 : 254 261.
3. Alford, R. A. S. J. Richards. 1999. Global amphibian declines: A problem in applied ecology. Annu. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 30 : 133 165.
4. Baillie, J. E. M., C. Hilton-Taylor S. N. Stuart (Eds.). 2004. 2004 IUCN red list of threatened species: A global species assessment. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
5. Becker, C. G., C. R. Fonseca, C. F. B. Haddad, R. F. Batista P. I. Prado. 2007. Habitat split and the global decline of amphibians. Science 318 : 1775 1777.
6. Beebee, T. J. C. 1979. Habitats of the British amphibians (2): Suburban parks and gardens. Biol. Conserv. 15 : 241 257.
7. Beebee, T. J. C. R. A. Griffiths. 2005. The amphibian decline crisis: A watershed for conservation biology? Biol. Conserv. 125 : 271 285.
8. Blaustein, A. R. J. M. Kiesecker. 2002. Complexity in conservation: Lessons from the global decline of amphibian populations. Ecol. Lett. 5 : 597 608.
9. Bousbouras, D. Y. Ioannidis. 1997. The distribution and habitat preferences of the amphibians of Prespa National Park. Hydrobiologia 351 : 127 133.
10. Bowers, M. A. S. F. Matter. 1997. Landscape ecology of mammals: Relationships between density and patch size. J. Mammal. 78 : 999 1013.
11. Bowne, D. R. M. A. Bowers. 2004. Interpatch movements in spatially structured populations: A literature review. Landscape Ecol. 19 : 1 20.
12. Bradshaw, C. J. A., N. S. Sodhi B. W. Brook. 2009. Tropical turmoil - A biodiversity tragedy in progress. Front. Ecol. Environ. 7 : 79 87.
13. Bridges, C. M. R. D. Semlitsch. 2000. Variation in pesticide tolerance of tadpoles among and within species of ranidae and patterns of amphibian decline. Conserv. Biol. 14 : 1490 1499.
14. Brook, B. W., N. S. Sodhi P. K. L. Ng. 2003. Catastrophic extinctions follow deforestation in Singapore. Nature 424 : 420 423.
15. Burnham, K. P. D. R. Anderson. 2002. Model selection and multimodel inference: A practical information-theoretic approach. Springer-Verlag, New York, New York.
16. Burnham, K. P. D. R. Anderson. 2004. Multimodel inference: Understanding AIC and BIC in model selection. Sociol. Methods Res. 33 : 261 304.
17. Carr, L. W. L. Fahrig. 2001. Effect of road traffic on two amphibian species of differing vagility. Conserv. Biol. 15 : 1071 1078.
18. Castelletta, M., J. M. Thiollay N. S. Sodhi. 2005. The effects of extreme forest fragmentation on the bird community of Singapore Island. Biol. Conserv. 121 : 135 155.
19. Clements, R., L. P. Koh, T. M. Lee, R. Meier D. Q. Li. 2006. Importance of reservoirs for the conservation of freshwater molluscs in a tropical urban landscape. Biol. Conserv. 128 : 136 146.
20. Collins, J. P. A. Storfer. 2003. Global amphibian declines: Sorting the hypotheses. Diversity Distrib. 9 : 89 98.
21. Corlett, R. T. 1997. The vegetation in the nature reserves of Singapore. Gard. Bull. (Singapore) 49 : 147 159.
22. Crump, M. L. N. J. Scott. 1994. Visual encounter surveys. In W. R. Heyer, M. A. Donnelly, R. W. McDiarmid, L. A. C. Hayek M. S. Foster (Eds.) : Biological diversity handbook series; measuring and monitoring biological diversity: Standard methods for amphibians. pp. 84 92. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC.
23. Cushman, S. A. 2006. Effects of habitat loss and fragmentation on amphibians: A review and prospectus. Biol. Conserv. 128 : 231 240.
24. Debinski, D. M. R. D. Holt. 2000. A survey and overview of habitat fragmentation experiments. Conserv. Biol. 14 : 342 355.
25. Demaynadier, P. G. M. L. Hunter Jr. 1995. The relationship between forest management and amphibian ecology: A review of the North American literature. Environ. Rev. 3 : 230 261.
26. Dupuis, L. D. Steventon. 1999. Riparian management and the tailed frog in northern coastal forests. For. Ecol. Manage. 124 : 35 43.
27. Emlen, S. T. 1968. Territoriality in the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana. Copeia 1968 : 240 243.
28. Fahrig, L., J. H. Pedlar, S. E. Pope, P. D. Taylor J. F. Wegner. 1995. Effect of road traffic on amphibian density. Biol. Conserv. 73 : 177 182.
29. Ferraz, G., G. J. Russell, P. C. Stouffer, R. O. Bierregaard, S. L. Pimm T. E. Lovejoy. 2003. Rates of species loss from Amazonian forest fragments. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100 : 14069 14073.
30. Findlay, C. S. J. Houlahan. 1997. Anthropogenic correlates of species richness in southeastern Ontario wetlands. Conserv. Biol. 11 : 1000 1009.
31. Gardner, T. A., J. Barlow C. A. Peres. 2007. Paradox, presumption and pitfalls in conservation biology: The importance of habitat change for amphibians and reptiles. Biol. Conserv. 138 : 166 179.
32. Gascon, C., T. E. Lovejoy, R. O. Bierregaard Jr., J. R. Malcolm, P. C. Stouffer, H. L. Vasconcelos, W. F. Laurance, B. Zimmerman, M. Tocher S. Borges. 1999. Matrix habitat and species richness in tropical forest remnants. Biol. Conserv. 91 : 223 229.
33. Gascon, G. 1993. Breeding-habitat use by five Amazonian frogs at forest edge. Biodiversity Conserv. 2 : 438 444.
34. Gibbs, J. P. 1998a. Amphibian movements in response to forest edges, roads, and streambeds in southern New England. J. Wildl. Manage. 62 : 584 589.
35. Gibbs, J. P. 1998b. Distribution of woodland amphibians along a forest fragmentation gradient. Landscape Ecol. 13 : 263 268.
36. Guerry, A. D. M. L. Hunter. 2002. Amphibian distributions in a landscape of forests and agriculture: An examination of landscape composition and configuration. Conserv. Biol. 16 : 745 754.
37. Halme, E. J. Niemela. 1993. Carabid beetles in fragments of coniferous forest. Ann. Zool. Fenn. 30 : 17 30.
38. Hannah, L., J. L. Carr A. Lankerani. 1995. Human disturbance and natural habitat: A biome level analysis of a global data set. Biodiversity Conserv. 4 : 128 155.
39. Hecnar, S. J. 1995. Acute and chronic toxicity of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to amphibians from Southern Ontario. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 14 : 2131 2137.
40. Hobbs, R. J. L. F. Huenneke. 1992. Disturbance, diversity, and invasion: Implications for conservation. Conserv. Biol. 6 : 324 337.
41. Houlahan, J. E., C. S. Findlay, B. R. Schmidt, A. H. Meyer S. L. Kuzmin. 2000. Quantitative evidence for global amphibian population declines. Nature 404 : 752 755.
42. Inger, R. F. R. B. Stuebing. 2005. A field guide to the frogs of Borneo. 2nd edition. Natural History Publication, Kota Kinabalu.
43. IUCN. 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Available at (accessed June 5, 2009).
44. Kapos, V. 1989. Effects of isolation on the water status of forest patches in the Brazilian Amazon. J. Trop. Ecol. 5 : 173 185.
45. Kapos, V., E. Wandelli, J. L. Camargo G. Ganade. 1997. Edge-related changes in environment and plant responses due to forest fragmentation in Central Amazonia. In W. F. Laurance R. O. Bierregaard, Jr. Eds. Tropical forest remnants: Ecology, management, and conservation of fragmented communities. pp. 33 44, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
46. Knutson, M. G., J. R. Sauer, D. A. Olsen, M. J. Mossman, L. M. Hemesath M. J. Lannoo. 1999. Effects of landscape composition and wetland fragmentation on frog and toad abundance and species richness in Iowa and Wisconsin, U.S.A. Conserv. Biol. 13 : 1437 1446.
47. Koh, L. P. N. S. Sodhi. 2004. Importance of reserves, fragments, and parks for butterfly conservation in a tropical urban landscape. Ecol. Appl. 14 : 1695 1708.
48. Kolozsvary, M. B. R. K. Swihart. 1999. Habitat fragmentation and the distribution of amphibians: Patch and landscape correlates in farmland. Can. J. Zool. 77 : 1288 1299.
49. Krishnamurthy, S. V. 2003. Amphibian assemblages in undisturbed and disturbed areas of Kudremukh National Park, central Western Ghats, India. Environ. Conserv. 30 : 274 282.
50. Laurance, W. F. 1999. Reflections on the tropical deforestation crisis. Biol. Conserv. 91 : 109 117.
51. Lehtinen, R. M., S. M. Galatowitsch J. R. Tester. 1999. Consequences of habitat loss and fragmentation for wetland amphibian assemblages. Wetlands 19 : 1 12.
52. Lehtinen, R. M., J.-B. Ramanamanjato J. G. Raveloarison. 2003. Edge effects and extinction proneness in a herpetofauna from Madagascar. Biodiversity Conserv. 12 : 1357 1370.
53. Lim, K. K. P. F. L. K. Lim. 1992. A guide to the amphibians and reptiles of Singapore. Singapore Science Centre, Singapore.
54. MacArthur, R. H. E. O. Wilson. 1967. The theory of Island biogeography. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
55. Marsh, D. M. P. B. Pearman. 1997. Effects of habitat fragmentation on the abundance of two species of Leptodactylid frogs in an Andean montane forest. Conserv. Biol. 11 : 1323 1328.
56. Myers, N., R. A. Mittermeier, C. G. Mittermeier, G. A. B. da Fonseca J. Kent. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403 : 853 858.
57. Neckel-Oliveira, S. C. Gascon. 2006. Abundance, body size and movement patterns of a tropical treefrog in continuous and fragmented forests in the Brazilian Amazon. Biol. Conserv. 128 : 308 315.
58. Parris, K. M. 2006. Urban amphibian assemblages as metacommunities. J. Anim. Ecol. 75 : 757 764.
59. Pearman, P. B., A. M. Velasco A. Lopez. 1995. Tropical amphibian monitoring - a comparison of methods for detecting inter-site variation in species composition. Herpetologica 51 : 325 337.
60. Pineda, E. G. Halffter. 2004. Species diversity and habitat fragmentation: Frogs in a tropical montane landscape in Mexico. Biol. Conserv. 117 : 499 508.
61. R Development Core Team. 2007. R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Available at.
62. Sala, O. E., F. S. III. Chapin, J. J. Armesto, E. Berlow, J. Bloomfield, R. Dirzo, E. Huber-Sanwald, L. F. Huenneke, R. B. Jackson, A. Kinzig, R. Leemans, D. M. Lodge, H. A. Mooney, M. Oesterheld, N. L. Poff, M. T. Sykes, B. H. Walker, M. Walker D. H. Wall. 2000. Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100. Science 287 : 1770 1774.
63. Saunders, D. A., R. J. Hobbs C. R. Margules. 1991. Biological consequences of ecosystem fragmentation: A review. Conserv. Biol. 5 : 18 32.
64. Schlaepfer, M. A. T. A. Gavin. 2001. Edge effects on lizards and frogs in tropical forest fragments. Conserv. Biol. 15 : 1079 1090.
65. Semlitsch, R. D. 2000. Principles for management of aquatic-breeding amphibians. J. Wildl. Manage. 64 : 615 631.
66. Sodhi, N. S., D. Bickford, A. C. Diesmos, T. M. Lee, L. P. Koh, B. W. Brook, C. H. Sekercioglu C. J. A. Bradshaw. 2008. Measuring the meltdown: Drivers of global amphibian extinction and decline. PLoS ONE 3 : e1636.
67. Sodhi, N. S. B. W. Brook. 2006. Southeast Asian biodiversity in crisis. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
68. Stuart, S. N., J. S. Chanson, N. A. Cox, B. E. Young, A. S. L. Rodrigues, D. L. Fischman R. W. Waller. 2004. Status and trends of amphibian declines and extinctions worldwide. Science 306 : 1783 1786.
69. Toral, E., P. Feinsinger M. L. Crump. 2002. Frogs and a cloud-forest edge in Ecuador. Conserv. Biol. 16 : 735 744.
70. Trenham, P. C. H. B. Shaffer. 2005. Amphibian upland habitat use and its consequences for population viability. Ecol. Appl. 15 : 1158 1168.
71. Turner, I. M. R. T. Corlett. 1996. The conservation value of small, isolated fragments of lowland tropical rain forest. Trends Ecol. Evol. 11 : 330 333.
72. Turner, I. M., Y. K. Wong, P. T. Chew A. bin Ibrahim. 1997. Tree species richness in primary and old secondary tropical forest in Singapore. Biodiversity Conserv. 6 : 537 543.
73. Vallan, D. 2000. Influence of forest fragmentation on amphibian diversity in the nature reserve of Ambohitantely, highland Madagascar. Biol. Conserv. 96 : 31 43.
74. Warkentin, I. G., D. Bickford, N. Sodhi C. J. A. Bradshaw. 2009. Eating frogs to extinction. Conserv. Biol. doi :.
75. Weakliem, D. L. 2004. Introduction to the special issue on model selection. Sociol. Methods Res. 33 : 167 187.
76. Whittingham, M. J., P. A. Stephens, R. B. Bradbury R. P. Freckleton. 2006. Why do we still use stepwise modelling in ecology and behaviour? J. Anim. Ecol. 75 : 1182 1189.
77. Wintle, B. A., J. Elith J. M. Potts. 2005. Fauna habitat modelling and mapping: A review and case study in the Lower Hunter Central Coast region of NSW. Aust. Ecol. 30 : 719 738.
78. Zimmerman, B. L. R. O. Bierregaard. 1986. Relevance of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography and species-area relations to conservation with a case from Amazonia. J. Biogeogr. 13 : 133 143.
79. Zug, G. R., L. J. Vitt J. P. Caldwell. 1993. Herpetology: An introductory biology of amphibians and reptiles. Academic Press Inc., San Diego, California.