DOI: 10.5061/dryad.tdz08kpx4
title: Something is not quite right: effects of two land uses on anuran diversity in subtropical grasslands

description: Although habitat modification is considered one of the main causes of
 biodiversity loss, the relative contribution of different rural land uses
 to biodiversity conservation are far less known. Additionally, the
 realization of the multidimensionality of biodiversity demands studies
 integrating variation of functional traits and phylogenetic information as
 complements to address the effects of land use on the structure of animal
 communities. Herein, we investigated the effects of land use (i.e.,
 intensive agricultural and extensive livestock rearing) on functional and
 phylogenetic diversity of anuran communities in farmland ponds from the
 Uruguayan savanna ecoregion, while considering the effects of local
 factors (i.e., water depth) on species composition. We surveyed adults and
 tadpoles in 22 ponds and quantified five traits related to tadpole
 feeding, habitat use, and predator avoidance. Tadpole identification was
 corroborated by DNA barcoding based on a fragment of the mitochondrial 16S
 rRNA gene. We observed a decline in phylogenetic mean nearest taxon
 distance associated with increase of surrounding agricultural land use.
 While land use intensification did not affect richness (functional or
 phylogenetic), ponds in livestock ranches hosted about four times more
 tadpoles than agricultural ponds. Functional evenness decreased with water
 depth, although such relationship disappeared when considering
 phylogenetic non-independence. Our results indicated that specific anuran
 clades were more sensitive to intensification in land use, reinforcing a
 recent view of phylogenetic homogenization following habitat conversion.
 Additionally, our study suggests that extensive cattle grazing over wide
 native pastures may provide an alternative more compatible with
 conservation than short-term crops in subtropical grasslands.
description: In the spring of 2015 (10–16 October), we sampled tadpoles in 22
 ponds located 5.5–316 km apart in southern Brazil. In order to ensure that
 the landscape composition surrounding each pond did not change over
 different scales, we defined circular areas (1,000 m radius) and measured
 land-cover data , using Qgis 2.18.16 . We based analysis on Google Earth
 imagery, using a land-cover classification for 2015 produced within the
 scope of the MapBiomas initiative. At each pond, we performed eight
 dip-net sweeps (30 cm diameter, 2mm mesh), each covering approximately 1
 m<sup>2</sup> and distributed at different pond depths (i.e.,
 four sweeps near the edge of the pond and four sweeps in deep water near
 the centre of the pond). Sweeps were pooled into one sample per pond (3.5
 L plastic bucket), where the collected tadpoles were euthanized with a
 benzocaine solution and sorted into series based on their morphology (i.e.
 coloration, body shape, eyes position, tail fin proportion, and mouth
 position).  We also registered the presence of all observed adults,
 visually or acoustically, during tadpole sampling. In laboratory, each
 tadpole without tail clip was rinsed in distilled water and then measured
 for a set of eight morphological traits on an automated stereomicroscope –
 Leica M205A.
description: See attached Read_me.txt for additional information.