ALTA VERAPAZ 2015 The Herpetofauna of Finca Rubel Chaim, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala A preliminary investigation Authors: Rowland Griffin and Adela Mei. Translation: Sheriyar Bokhari.
2015 The Herpetofauna of Finca Rubel Chaim, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala A preliminary investigation CONAP Authors: Rowland Griffin and Adela Mei Translation: Sheriyar Bokhari 14 September 2015 Indigo Expeditions info@explorewithindigo.com 0 2
Introduction The highlands of Central America are well known for their biological diversity, and the highlands of Guatemala are no exception. While the western highlands of Guatemala have received much attention from biologists, the central highlands of Alta Verapaz have not. The spectacular mountain cloud forests near the city of Coban, in the department of Alta Verapaz, are home to numerous species of reptiles and amphibians, many of which are little known and have very limited geographic ranges (eg Abronia gaiophantasma, Pletrohyla pokomchi, P. quecchi, and Craugastor lineatus) (Köhler 2008; Köhler 2011). The reptiles and amphibians are widely known to be subjected to considerable global population declines due to habitat degradation and disease (Stuart et al 2008). They also have been less studied than other groups of vertebrates and relatively little is known about their ecological requirements. The area around Finca Rubel Chaim ranges from 1300m to 2000m above sea level and covers a wide variety of both natural and manmade habitats. The lower elevations of land have been converted for agriculture and grazing. At the middle elevations (1400m to 1600m) the natural habitat is a mixed pine-oak forests, although some areas have become commercial pine plantations. It is only at higher elevations (above 1600m) that natural habitat is classified as cloud forest. During a three-day visit to Finca Rubel Chaim in 2014 Indigo Expeditions recorded 21 species of reptiles and amphibians, five of which are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. It was concluded that this is an important area for reptiles and amphibians (Powell et al 2014). We hope that long term collection of data on communities of reptiles and amphibians of Finca Rubel Chaim will allow a better understanding of the distribution, status and ecology of these species in Alta Verapaz and contribute their conservation. 0 3
Methodology Amphibian Biosecurity To avoid the spread of emerging amphibian diseases (e.g. amphibian chytridiomycosis) all members of the field team disinfected their boots, upon arrival to site, in a solution of Virkon, following amphibian biosecurity guidelines (ARG-UK 2008; Powell et al 2014). This protocol was repeated on the final morning. Reptile and Amphibian Survey We conducted surveys in the following habitat categories: 1) Agricultural - the term is used for any land that is, or has recently been, used for agricultural practices including growing of crops and grazing of livestock; 2) Low forest is used to describe forest between 1300 m and 1600 m above sea level; 3) Cloud Forest forest above 1600 m above sea level; and 4) Riparian any habitat within three metres of a river of stream. Time restricted (2 hours) VES surveys were conducted using the network of trails around Finca Rubel Chaim. Transects were walked at a slow pace allowing a thorough examination of the vegetation for reptiles and amphibians. The vegetation surrounding each transect was examined up to a meter on each side of the transect and up to two meters high. Surveys were conducted during the day and at night (Crump & Scott 1994; Lovich et al 2012). For each transect the following environmental data was recorded: start and finish time (24 hours), air temperature ( C), relative humidity (%), cloud cover (%), barometric pressure (hpa), daily precipitation (mm), and moon phase (defined as full / first quarter / half / 3rd quarter / dark). 0 4
Methodology For each individual reptile and amphibian found the following data was taken: the time of observation (24 hours), position (leaves, shrub layer, branch [in case of branch diameter will be measured in mm] and the height from the ground [mm]), the distance along the transect, activity (resting, sunbathing, foraging), body temperature before capture (if possible, calculated with an infrared thermometer in C), species, age (adult, juvenile, neonate), sex (if possible), snout-vent length (mm), tail length if present (mm) and weight (g). The location of the individual will be recorded using a Garmin GPSMap 62. All animals were returned at the point of capture. If the data was collected in the field, then the animal was released within two hours. If, for any reason, an animal was taken to the laboratory of the CCFC agroecology campus to collect data, it was returned to the same point of capture within 48 hours. All animals taken to the laboratory for data collection were transported in a suitable manner. Amphibians were transported in plastic bags containing an air tank and a small amount of water, and reptiles were be transported in cloth bags. All bags contained fresh vegetation in order to maintain sufficient moisture levels to ensure that animals did not become dehydrated. 0 5
Results A total of 23 species were recorded during this current study (see Appendix 1). This consisted of 11 species of amphibian and 12 species of reptile. We found amphibians and reptiles in all four habitats, with a total of 13 species found in Agriculture, six in Low Forest, two in Cloud Forest and 10 in Riparian (table 1). Agricultural Low Forest Cloud Forest Riparian Amphibian species 4 3 0 9 Reptile species 9 3 2 1 Total Species 13 6 2 10 Table 1: Distribution of reptile and amphibian species by habitat type. Of the 11 species of amphibians, seven are listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN 2015). The records of the treefrogs Plectrohyla hartwegi and P. teuchestes represent significant range extensions for those species. For the latter species this record represents the second location it has been recorded at. Until now P. teuchestes was only known from its type locality near Senahú, Alta Verapaz approximately 60 km to the east of our record. The most commonly encountered amphibian species were Ptychohyla hypomykter, Plectrohyla quecchi and P. pokomchi. Although only recent metamorphs of the latter two species were encountered during this study. We also identified three breeding choruses of Agalychnis moreletti in the forests around Finca Rubel Chaim. Of the 12 species of reptiles Abronia gaiophanstasma is Engangered and Bothriechis aurifer is Vulnerable (IUCN 2015). The small, leaf litter snake Ninia pavimentata is little known and occurs in an area of approximately 22,000 km 2 in Guatemala, as such we consider this new record to be significant. 0 6
Discussion Over the two field surveys at Finca Rubel Chaim we have recorded a total of 29 species of reptiles and amphibians. Many of these are new records for the Finca and represent significant range extensions for the species. Seven species of amphibians are considered Critically Endangered by the IUCN, with further three considered Vulnerable (IUCN 2015). We consider that this site is an important area for the conservation of highland amphibians in Guatemala and feel it is a priority to continue surveying the area to improve our knowledge of these rare species. 2015 has seen a significant El Niño event and this has affected the weather in Guatemala. At the time of our survey in 2015 the rainy season had not yet started and the dry season had been prolonged. Our observations showed that rainfall during late May occurred on only four days. Additionally, we observed that the water tanks of many bromeliads were dry. This lack of precipitation is worrying as it may have consequences for the breeding cycles of many amphibians in the region. Powell et al (2014) identified four species of reptiles (Abronia sp., Corytophanes percarinatus, Norops petersii, and Bothriechis aurifer) as targets for this study. All were successfully located around Finca Rubel Chaim, with several accounts of B. aurifer being given to our team by locals, two of these came from altitudes of over 1800 metres above sea level. In future studies we would like to make further efforts to survey these higher altitudes more thoroughly to better understand the distribution and ecology of this species. 0 7
References ARG-UK. 2008. Amphibian Disease Precautions: a Guide for UK Fieldworkers. ARG- UK, UK. IUCN. 2015. Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2 (Accessed online 31/08/15) Köhler, G. 2008. Reptiles of Central America. Herpeton Verlag, Offenbach. Köhler, G. 2010. Amphibians of Central America. Herpeton Verlag, Offenbach. Lips, K., J.D. Reeve, & L.R. Witters. 2003. Ecological Traits Predicting Amphibian Population Declines in Central America. Conservation Biology. 17:4. Pp. 1078-1088. Pounds, J.A., M.P.L. Fogden, & J.H. Campbell. 1999. Biological Response to Climate Change on a Tropical Mountain. Nature. 398. Pp. 611-615. Pounds, J.A., M.R. Bustamante, L.A. Coloma, J.A. Consuegra, M.P. Fogden, P.N. Foster, E. La-Marca, K.L. Masters, A. Merino-Viteri, R. Puschendorf, S.R. Ron, G.A. Sánchez-Azofeifa, C.J. Still, & B.E. Young. 2007. Widespread Amphibian Extinctions from Epidemic Disease Driven by Global Warming. Nature. 439. Pp. 161-167. Stuart, S.N., M. Hoffmann, J.S. Chanson, N.A. Cox, R.J. Berridge, P, Ramani, & B.E. Young (eds.). 2008. Threatened Amphibians of the World. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain; IUCN, Gland, Switzerland; and Conservation International, Arlington, Virginia, USA. 0 8
Appendix 1 The Herpetofauna of Sierra Chilaxhá, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala FAMILY Species 2014 2015 AMPHIBIA 1 Plethodontidae Bolitoglossa mulleri x x 2 Bolitoglossa rufescens x x 3 Centrolenidae Hyalinobatrachium fleischmanni x 4 Craugastoridae Craugastor bocourti x x 5 Craugastor lineatus x x 6 Craugastor rivulus x 7 Hylidae Agalychnis moreletii x x 8 Plectrohyla hartwegi x 9 Plectrohyla pokomchi x x 10 Plectrohyla quecchi x x 11 Plectrohyla teuchestes x 12 Ptycohyla hypomykter x x 13 Ranidae Rana maculatus x x REPTILIA 14 Anguidae Abronia gaiophantasma x 15 Iguanidae Corytophanes percarinatus x 16 Phrynosomatidae Sceloporus taeniocnemis x x 17 Polychrotidae Norops cobanensis x x 18 Norops petersii x 19 Norops tropidonotus x * The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2 0 9
Appendix 1 FAMILY Species 2014 2015 20 Colubridae Drymobius margaritiferus x 21 Imantodes cenchoa x x 22 Lampropeltis triangulum x 23 Ninia diademata x x 24 Ninia pavimentata x 25 Ninia sebae x x 26 Pliocercus elapoides x 27 Rhadinea kinkelinii x x 28 Stenorrhina degenhardti x 29 Viperidae Bothriechis aurifer x * The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2014.2 10
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