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Assisted phoresy of invertebrates by anurans in tank bromeliads: interspecific relationship

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Abstract

Phytotelmata are habitats that house several species. Oftentimes invertebrate species need to disperse themselves sometimes carried by other animals, an interaction called phoresy. Phoresy can be influenced by different factors, therefore, we aim to investigate which factors influence the phoretic potential between anurans and invertebrates from bromeliads in semideciduous Atlantic Forest, as well as whether there is specificity of invertebrates with any anuran species. We tested if (a) phoresy is more common under conditions with higher rainfall; (b) there are some species of anurans that influence the phoresy of invertebrates more than others; (c) size is an important factor to phoresy. The study was developed during six campaigns in two sites containing the bromeliad Aechmea leptantha. In each campaign, water of bromeliads was collected and all anurans found in bromeliads were processed by washing the skin to collect adhered invertebrates. We recorded the prevalence, average intensity and average abundance of invertebrates between anuran species. We verified the similarity of invertebrates between anuran taxa and we tested the hypothesis of independence between them. In order to identify which factors affect phoresy, we performed a GAMLSS analysis. Invertebrates were present on 54.4% of anurans distributed in five species: Dendropsophus decipiens, Scinax pachycrus, S. x-signatus, S. auratus and Pristimantis ramagii. The estimated densities for prevalence, average intensity and average abundance of invertebrates showed distinct shapes among the anuran species, of which not all participate in the same way in invertebrate transport. The mean phoretic potential showed a significant relationship with anuran length and rainfall.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brazil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001, for the PROAP financial assistance and the Masters’ fellowship granted to the first author, and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), for permits to research (licence: ICMBio 57241–1).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Biologia, Laboratório de Estudos Herpetológicos E Paleoherpetológicos, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, UFRPE, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, Dois Irmãos, Recife, Pernambuco, 52171-900, Brasil

    Alan Pedro de Araújo, Alexandre Henrique Carvalho Marques, Alexandre Pereira Dantas & Geraldo Jorge Barbosa de Moura

  2. Centro de Educação E Saúde, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Unidade Acadêmica de Biologia E Química, Olho d´água da Bica, s/n, Cuité, Paraíba, 58175-000, Brasil

    Alexandre Pereira Dantas

  3. Departamento de Biologia, Laboratório de Ecologia Do Plâncton, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, UFRPE, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia, Rua Dom Manuel de Medeiros, s/n, 52171-900, Dois Irmãos, Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil

    Mauro de Melo Junior

  4. Universidade Católica de Salvador, UCSAL, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Planejamento Ambiental, Avenida Prof. Pinto de Aguiar, Pituaçu, Salvador, Bahia, 4174-090, Brasil

    Moacir Santos Tinoco

  5. Departamento de Ecologia, Laboratório de Herpetologia e Comportamento Animal, Universidade Federal de Goiás, UFG, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Evolução, Av. Esperança, s/n Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, GO, 74690-900, Brazil

    Alan Pedro de Araújo

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  1. Alan Pedro de Araújo
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Contributions

APA, MMJ, GJBM and MST conceived the project, reviewed and approved the final draft; APA and APD carried out data collection in the field and laboratory; AHCM analyzed the data, prepared the figures and tables, reviewed and approved the final article; APA and AHCM wrote the manuscript; MMJ, GJBM and MST contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools.

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Correspondence to Alan Pedro de Araújo.

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de Araújo, A.P., Marques, A.H.C., Dantas, A.P. et al. Assisted phoresy of invertebrates by anurans in tank bromeliads: interspecific relationship. Aquat Sci 82, 64 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-020-00732-0

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