A checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Río Macho Biological Station, Provincia de Cartago, Costa Rica

By

Acosta-Chaves, Víctor J.
Chaves, Gerardo
Abarca, Juan G.
García-Rodríguez, Adrián
Bolaños, Federico

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2015-11-2

Original Publication

Check list : journal of species lists and distribution

Volume

11

Series / Issue

Issue: 6

Pages

1784--10

Subjects

Amphibians , Costa Rica , herpetofauna , lower montane forest , Orosi Valley , Reptiles , Río Macho , secondary forest

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

[São Paulo, Brazil] Luís Felipe Toledo 2005-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15560/11.6.1784

 

Abstract

We provide a checklist of the amphibians and reptiles of Río Macho Biological Station (RMBS), Costa Rica. During a period of a year (2012–2013) we conducted visual and acoustic surveys in a natural mature forest plot (>50 years old) (MF), secondary forest plot (~17 years old) (SF), in open areas and riparian forest at RMBS. We found a total of 11 species of amphibians and 15 species of reptiles belonging to 11 taxonomic families. We also compared the diversity of the MF against the SF. The MF contained 10 species (five amphibians and five reptiles) and the SF seven (three amphibians and four reptiles), with similar dominance between sites. Unfortunately, some forest and riparian species have vanished at this elevation after an enigmatic decline; according to historical literature pristine areas should contain higher species richness. Perhaps, the secondary forest will provide an available habitat for an important percentage of the remaining forest species.