Impacto del cambio de uso de suelo sobre la comunidad de anfibios en la microcuenca del río Yambala, Vilcabamba

Abstract

Abstract: Amphibians are currently among the groups of animals that are most threatened by anthropic pressures on ecosystems, despite these threats, in our country there is a great biological diversity of this group of animals, for this reason it is of great importance its study especially in the province of Loja, specifically in the microbasin of the Yambala River, southeast area bordering the Podocarpus National Park where the information and records of amphibians are null. This work was carried out with the purpose of knowing the composition of amphibians in the area and if changes in land use are affecting their distribution. For this purpose, we worked through transects of different extensions along the micro-watershed applying two techniques: sampling by visual encounters and sampling by auditory bands, we calculated diversity indexes and we elaborated distribution maps for each species recorded and then, using QGIS, we related the species found with the vegetation cover. Ten species were recorded, three species distributed in the lower altitude zones with greater human intervention, while seven species were identified in the higher zones with less intervention. In conclusion, that change in land use for intensive agriculture together with the expansion of the agricultural frontier affect the presence of amphibians in this area.