Data from: Impact of a hurricane on the herpetofaunal assemblages of a successional chronosequence in a tropical dry forest

Land-use change is the main cause of deforestation and degradation of tropical forest in Mexico. Frequently, these lands are abandoned leading to a mosaic of natural vegetation in secondary succession. Further degradation of the natural vegetation in these lands could be exacerbated by stochastic catastrophic events such as hurricanes. Information on the impact of human disturbance parallel to natural disturbance has not yet been evaluated for faunal assemblages in tropical dry forests. To evaluate the response of herpetofaunal assemblages to the interaction of human and natural disturbances, we used information of pre and post- hurricane herpetofaunal assemblages inhabiting different successional stages (pasture, early forest, young forest, intermediate forest, and old-growth forest) of dry forest. Herpetofaunal assemblages were surveyed in all successional stages two years before and two years after the hurricane Jova that hit the Pacific Coast of Mexico on October 2011. We registered 4,093 individuals of 61 species. Overall, there were only slight effects of successional stage, hurricane Jova or the interaction between them on abundance, observed species richness and diversity of the herpetofauna. However, we found marked changes in estimated richness and composition of frogs, lizards and snakes among successional stages in response to hurricane Jova. Modifications in vegetation structure as result of hurricane pass promoted particular changes in each successional stage and taxonomic group (anurans, lizards and snakes). Secondary forests at different stages of succession may attenuate the negative effects of an intense, short-duration and low frequency natural disturbance such as hurricane Jova on successional herpetofaunal trajectories and species turnover.

土地利用变化是墨西哥热带森林遭受砍伐与退化的主要诱因。此类用地常被弃置，进而形成处于次生演替阶段的天然植被镶嵌体。诸如飓风这类随机灾难性事件，可能进一步加剧该区域天然植被的退化。目前针对热带旱林动物群落（faunal assemblages），尚未有研究评估人为干扰与自然干扰共同作用的影响。为探究两栖爬行动物群落（herpetofaunal assemblages）对人为与自然干扰交互作用的响应，本研究采集了栖息于旱林不同演替阶段（弃耕地、早期次生林、幼龄林、中龄林及原始林）的飓风前后群落数据。研究团队于2011年10月袭击墨西哥太平洋沿岸的约瓦飓风（Hurricane Jova）发生前后两年，对所有演替阶段的两栖爬行动物群落开展了调查，共记录到61个物种、总计4093个个体。整体而言，演替阶段、约瓦飓风以及二者的交互作用，对两栖爬行动物的种群丰度、观测物种丰富度及多样性仅存在微弱影响。但研究发现，针对蛙类、蜥蜴类与蛇类，不同演替阶段的估计物种丰富度及群落组成，均因约瓦飓风发生了显著变化。飓风过境引发的植被结构改变，促使不同演替阶段及类群（无尾两栖类、蜥蜴类与蛇类）发生了针对性的群落变化。不同演替阶段的次生林，可缓解约瓦飓风这类强强度、短历时、低频次自然干扰，对两栖爬行动物演替轨迹及物种更替带来的负面影响。