Amazon Reptil Manu

Introduction The eastern slopes of the Andes have one of the highest diversity of amphibians in the world (Duellman 1999, Stuart et al. 2004), as well as high diversity of reptiles (Duellman 2005, von May et al. 2009). Peru is a mega-diverse country hosting approximately 571 species of amphibians (Frost 2013) and 437 species of reptiles (Uetz & Hošek 2013). The most important biodiversity hotspot for amphibians, the Tropical Andes (Myers et al. 2000), runs from north to south along the western half of Peru’s territory. Several protected areas have been created in the Peruvian Andes over the past three decades (SERNANP 2010). However, our knowledge of the biodiversity within these areas is very fragmentary.For example in southeastern Peru, 10 nationally protected areas extend from the Amazon lowlands in the Department of Madre de Dios to the foothill of the Andes of Cusco and Puno , yet none of these areas has a comprehensive list of amphibian and reptiles species. One of such areas, Manu National Park (Manu NP), is unique in covering the entire watershed of the Manu river, a large tributary to the Alto Madre de Dios river (the upper Madre de Dios river, a tributary to the Madeira river). In the lowland floodplain and terra forme forests along the Manu River, inside Manu NP, several publications reported preliminary lists of amphibians and reptiles known to occur at two sites, Cocha Cashu Biological Station (Rodríguez 1987, 1992, Rodríguez & Cadle 1990) and Pakitza (Morales & McDiarmid 1996). Recent studies have produced extensive lists for Los Amigos Conservation Concession (von May et al. 2006, 2009, 2010). Los Amigos lies outside of Manu NP, but its northern edge overlaps with the park’s buffer zone. Most of our knowledge about amphibian and reptilian diversity in the Andean foothills comes from studies conducted in the Kosñipata valley (Hurtado & Blanco 1994, Catenazzi & Rodriguez 2001, Catenazzi et al. 2009, 2011, 2012, Lehr & Catenazzi 2008, 2009a, b, unpublished field data), including Villa Carmen and Wayqecha Biological Stations. The upper Kosñipata valley (above 2500-3000 m) is part of Manu NP, but the rest of the valley between Pillahuata (2500 m) and Pillcopata (600 m), along the Paucartambo–Shintuya road, is part of the park’s buffer zone.Despite these studies and preliminary inventories, Manu NP still lacks a comprehensive list of amphibian and reptile taxa. The lack of species lists hinders conservation and management efforts. The upper part of Manu NP is currently experiencing a collapse in amphibian species richness and abundance following the spread of the highly pathogenic fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Catenazzi et al. 2011). A better knowledge of amphibian diversity and distribution will assist monitoring and mitigation efforts. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to gather data from previous lists, species descriptions, museum records and our own feldwork in the region to compile a checklist of all amphibians and reptiles that have been found within Manu National Park and its adjacent buffer zone.MethodsManu National Park (Manu NP) is located in southeastern Peru (Regions of Cusco and Madre de Dios) and covers 17163 km2 of Amazonian lowland, submontane, montane and high-elevation Andean habitats between 150 m and 4200 m elevation . The park protects the entire watershed of the Manu River in the upper Madre de Dios basin. Manu NP was established in 1973, recognized as a Reserve of Biosphere by the UNESCO in 1977, and pronounced a World Heritage Site in 1987; it is Peru’s second largest national park and it lies in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al. 2000).Occurrence of taxa was determined on the basis of the original species descriptions, listings in species descriptions of similar or sympatric taxa, museum records and/or our own feldwork in the region (Catenazzi & Rodriguez 2001, Duellman & Lehr 2009, von May 2009, von May et al. 2009, 2010, von May & Donnelly 2009, Catenazzi et al. 2011). Some species have not been reported from Manu NP or its buffer zone, but occur both north and south of the area, such that their presence in Manu NP is very likely. These species are (in parenthesis references in support of the geographic distribution of each species): Rhinella leptoscelis (Padial et al. 2009), Hyalinobatrachium carlesvilai (Castroviejo-Fisher et al. 2009), Dendropsophus bokermanni and D. rossalleni (Duellman 2005), Apostolepis nigroterminata (Harvey 1999), Xenoxybelis boulengeri (Duellman 2005), Xenodon rabdocephalus (Duellman 2005), Micrurus narduccii (Campbell & Lamar 1989), Bothriopsis oligolepis and B. taeniata (Campbell & Lamar 1989), Bothrocophias microphthalmus (Gutberlet & Campbell 2001), Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Duellman 2005). We have also listed 8 frog and one squamate species which are still not described, but known to represent new species.General terrestrial habitat categories follow the references within the squared brackets. For the lowlands (300-500 m), we use forest types that are widely recognized by plant and animal ecologists working in western Amazonia (Pitman et al. 1999, Larsen et al. 2006, Griscom et al. 2007). One of these forest types, the flooodplain, can be classi in two general categories: mature floodplain forest and early successional floodplain forest. However, because species recorded in the early successional forest can also be found in the mature floodplain forest (von May et al. 2010), we simply refer to floodplain forest as the major habitat category representing these two floodplain forest types. If a species was primarily associated with a permanent aquatic habitat such as a lake or a river, we referred to that particular aquatic habitat. In contrast, if a species was temporarily associated with smaller aquatic habitats such as temporary ponds or creeks embedded in major terrestrial habitats, we referred to that terrestrial habitat. We did not differentiate between forest types in the Andean piedmont (500-1000 m), where we used the general category of sub-montane rainforest. For both the lowlands and the foothills of the Andes, we recognized Mauritia fexuosa swamp and bamboo (Guadua spp.) forest as distinct habitats. The cloud forest category refers to all montane forests between 1000-3600 m; additional high-elevation habitat types were the high-Andean grasslands or puna, dominated by Stipa ichu, and the montane scrub, which represents  forests and xeric vegetation growing on exposed slopes or ridges.For taxonomy we followed Blackburn & Wake (2011) for amphibians, Castoe et al. (2004) for gymnophthalmid lizards, Le et al. (2006) for tortoises and McCord et al. (2001) for chelid turtles .

Results and DiscussionWe list 155 species of amphibians  and 132 species of reptiles  currently known to occur or suspected to occur within Manu NP. The cumulative number of species descriptions by year differs between amphibians and reptiles , because for reptiles the curve reached a number close to the asymptote in the decade of 1960-1970, whereas for amphibians this very same decade corresponded to a sharp increase in the number of new species described for Manu NP. The construction of the Paucartambo-Shintuya road in the late 60s greatly facilitated access to high-elevation and montane habitats. William E. Duellman and associates collected along this road from 1971-1975, and subsequently described several new anuran species from this region (Duellman 1976, 1978). Although the cumulative number of amphibians already exceeded the number of reptiles during the decade of 1990-2000, the pattern of accelerated discoveries of new and often endemic amphibian species is still holding up during the current decade (Catenazzi et al. 2012, Chaparro et al. 2007, De la Riva & Chaparro 2005, De la Riva et al. 2008, Duellman et al. 2011, Padial et al. 2007, Lehr & Catenazzi 2008, 2009a,b, Lehr & von May 2009, Padial et al. 2012), and we are confident that several more species will be added to this list over the next few years. We expect that the final number of amphibian species will be greater than the number of reptile species, because the diversity of squamates decreases with elevation at a much faster rate than the diversity of anurans (Navas 2003). Squamates and anurans constitute the bulk of respectively reptilian and amphibian diversity. Given the wide elevational gradient and large area of montane and high-elevation habitats protected by Manu NP, the greater relative richness of anurans vs. squamates is probably replicated across several watersheds (and not just the Kosñipata watershed), further contributing to the amphibian primacy in species richness .

1. Amphibians of Manu National Park, Peru. The asterisk indicates species whose type locality is within Manu NP or its buffer zone. Species new to science but not yet described are listed as “sp.” Abbreviations for habitat types are: for lowland forest (300-500 m): FP = foodplain forest, TF = tierra firme forest, SW = Mauritia fexuosa swamp (aguajal), BF = bamboo (Guadua spp.) forest (pacal); for lowland aquatic or semi-aquatic habitat (300-500 m): LA = lake shore or foating vegetation around lake, RI = river bank or sandbar or pebble beach; for the piedmont of the Andes (500-1000 m): SM = submontane rainforest, SW = Mauritia fexuosa swamp (aguajal), BF = bamboo (Guadua spp.) forest (pacal); for montane and high-Andean habitats (1000-4000 m): CF = cloud forest, MS = montane scrub, PU = puna (high-Andean grasslands)

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ANAZON RAINFOREST – WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT WHEN WE SAY “AMAZONIA”?

When we think of the Amazon or «the jungle», as we usually call it In Peru, we imagine vast jungles, huge rivers and indigenous people with feathered headdresses and painted faces. This image, which accompanies us at least since the first failed expeditions of European conquest east of the Andes, it is not exactly wrong (the Amazon is home to of jungles, rivers and indigenous peoples, without a doubt); but it is insufficient and anachronistic. To talk about the Amazon, today, we need to refer to a complex entity, where three different space-times converge and overlap. At the base, is the hydrographic basin of the Amazon River, which part mainly from the eastern slopes of the Andes, from Colombia to Bolivia, 1 and it extends over the Brazilian plain to the Atlantic Ocean. The scenario on which one of the most complex and diverse biomes has evolved of our planet  is established by the mountains that ascended
tens of millions of years, and the water flowing from innumerable sources that
converge to spawn the Amazon.

Together they form a “tree made of rivers” (Hemming 2009) with roots that get wet
in the sea, descending from the highest peaks towards imperceptible slopes and
dragging unimaginable volumes of minerals and organic matter in its wake. Likewise, this scenario is made up of an ancient geological base, 2 that rests under the immense Amazon plain, washed of almost all nutrient minerals by countless rains. The Amazon biome, the second space-time, is a noisy assembly of hundreds of thousands of biological species of all kinds. Among them are microscopic fungi, pink dolphins, nocturnal arachnids, birds that look like logs, flowers that look like birds, killer trees («matapalos») and hundreds of ethnic groups and human cultures, both native and recent. Structurally, the Amazon biome is dominated by forests and wetlands (soils saturated or covered with water permanently or during part of the year), but also includes grasslands, grasses and natural savannas.

The Map of Ecosistemas del Perú recognizes 14 major Amazonian ecosystem divisions,
only in our territory (Minam 2018). Neither the waters nor the forests are always
they are not composed of the same species. Forests or rivers adjacent areas can be dramatically different. Even in the apparent homogeneity of the plain forest, the diversity is so great that not even the botanist more expert would dare to predict more than a handful of species, among thousands possible, in one hectare of forest. From north to south, and from west to east, they change the climate and the influence of the Andes. The diversity of ecosystems and communities biological would seem to crowd towards the foot of the mountains

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