Canopy cover and structural complexity affect the phylogenetic composition of a pond-dwelling Neotropical anuran metacommunity

Abstract

Phylogenetic information has been increasingly included into (meta)community assembly studies. However, recent studies have challenged the framework commonly used to infer processes from phylogenetic structure. Amphibians are good model organisms to study processes promoting structure in metacommunities, since they are subjected to different environmental and spatial processes throughout their biphasic life cycle. Pond canopy cover is one of these environmental factors that strongly influence the distribution of species and traits of several freshwater taxa, including larval amphibians (e.g., behavior, color, fin height, and length of intestine). Here, I tested the influence of pond canopy cover, floating vegetation, and pond morphology on the phylogenetic structure of an anuran metacommunity in the Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil. I sampled tadpoles in 13 ponds and marshes from June 2008 and July 2009 in the Serra da Bocaina National Park, Sao Paulo. After building a metacommunity phylogeny, I used an eigenvector-based technique to describe the metacommunity phylogenetic composition (Principal Coordinates of Phylogenetic Structure, PCPS). I then run a db-RDA to evalute whether a subset of these eigenvectors can be explained by environmental variables. I found that pond canopy cover and floating vegetation were the main variables influencing lineage sorting in this metacommunity. Canopy cover separated hylid lineages from other families that were associated with open areas. Floating vegetation separated two hylid tribes (Cophomantini and Dendropsophini). Our results mainly suggest that the effect of canopy cover and floating vegetation on the structure of anuran metacommunity may affect not only species, but also entire lineages.