Native Ilex paraguariensis (yerba mate) is one of the most widespread crops in the Atlantic Forest region of southern South America and has an important economic and cultural value in Paraguay, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Despite the known potential of shade‐grown products (especially cocoa and coffee) to protect biodiversity, the benefits of shade‐grown yerba mate for biodiversity conservation in the Atlantic Forest remain scarce, one of the most threatened ecoregions in the world, also considered a biodiversity hotspot. In order to understand these potential benefits, it is important to identify how species use shade‐grown yerba mate plantations, as well as if it can be an strategy to improve or maintain biodiversity in complex socio‐ecological landscapes. We analysed the potential benefits of forests with shade‐grown yerba mate for birds, amphibian and reptiles in the Reserve for National Park ‘San Rafael’ and its buffer area (Itapúa Department, Paraguay). We evaluated differences in species richness and composition between three environments: forest with shade‐grown yerba mate, forest edge and monoculture crop plantations analysing beta diversity. A total of 112 bird species were recorded in all three environments. Regarding the herpetological community, we recorded 10 species (seven amphibians and three reptiles). Our results indicate that forests with yerba mate plantations not only maintains the bird species richness, but also its species composition differs significantly from edge and croplands, which might be an indicator of the contribution of shade‐grown yerba mate plantations to conservation. The results of the research would help to value the impact of sustainable agroforestry activities for the conservation of Atlantic Forest biodiversity.

中文翻译：

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生活在阴影中：荫凉的yerba mate（Ilex paraguariensis）人工林中的两栖动物，爬行动物和鸟类的多样性

巴拉圭原产冬青（yerba mate）是南美南部大西洋森林地区最广泛的农作物之一，在巴拉圭，阿根廷，巴西和乌拉圭具有重要的经济和文化价值。尽管已知有树荫生长的产品（尤其是可可和咖啡）具有保护生物多样性的潜力，但树荫生长的yerba mate对大西洋森林生物多样性保护的好处仍然稀缺，这是世界上受威胁最大的生态区之一，也被认为是生物多样性热点。为了了解这些潜在的好处，重要的是要确定物种如何利用荫生的大麦草人工林，以及是否可以将其作为改善或维持复杂社会生态景观中生物多样性的一项战略。我们分析了树荫下生长的yerba mate对鸟类的森林的潜在利益，国家公园“圣拉斐尔”及其缓冲区（巴拉圭伊塔普阿省）保护区的两栖动物和爬行动物。我们评估了三种环境之间物种丰富度和组成的差异：阴影生长的yerba mate的森林，林缘和分析β多样性的单作作物种植园。在这三个环境中总共记录了112种鸟类。关于爬行动物群落，我们记录了10种（七个两栖动物和三个爬行动物）。我们的结果表明，拥有马黛茶人工林的森林不仅保持了鸟类物种的丰富性，而且其物种组成与边缘和农田的差异显着，这可能是遮荫的马黛茶人工林对保护的贡献的指标。