Data from: Vertical niche usage and trait associations in Gabonese amphibians

Tropical forests are vertically complex, and offer unique niche opportunities in the form of resource, climate, and habitat-gradients from the forest floor to the canopy. Rainforest amphibians organize within this vertical space and the highest levels of vertical stratification occur in structurally complex and climatically stable tropical rainforests. Amphibians have diversified into numerous habitat and climatic niches, which has led to the development of a wide variety of morphological, behavioural, physiological, and reproductive traits. However, a lack of data regarding the vertical niche space used by amphibian species has prevented a nuanced analysis of traits and vertical height. We performed 74 ground-to-canopy surveys for amphibians at Baposso Village, Ngounie Province, Gabon, and describe the vertical stratification patterns of the assemblage in terms of richness, abundance, and species specific vertical niche usage. We analyse the relationships between amphibian traits with vertical height using linear mixed effects models, finding strong support that frogs with bigger toes in relation to their length access greater height in the canopy. We also see differences in the vertical heights of species according to their reproductive modes, highlighting the importance of reproductive mode diversity for the vertical stratification of amphibian assemblages.

热带森林具有复杂的垂直结构，从林底到冠层形成了资源、气候与栖息地梯度，为物种提供了独特的生态位空间。雨林两栖动物便栖息于此垂直空间中，而结构复杂、气候稳定的热带雨林往往拥有最为显著的垂直分层现象。两栖动物已分化出大量不同的栖息地与气候生态位，进而演化出形态、行为、生理及繁殖性状等多类丰富的特征。然而，目前缺乏关于两栖动物所利用的垂直生态位空间的数据，阻碍了对其性状与垂直高度关系的精细化分析。本研究在加蓬恩古涅省巴波索村开展了74次从林底到冠层的两栖动物调查，从物种丰富度、个体丰度以及物种特异性垂直生态位利用方式三个维度，描述了该区域两栖动物群落的垂直分层模式。本研究采用线性混合效应模型分析两栖动物性状与垂直高度的关联，结果强有力地证实：相对体长而言趾部更大的蛙类能够到达冠层更高的位置。此外，不同繁殖模式的两栖动物其垂直栖息高度存在显著差异，这凸显了繁殖模式多样性对两栖动物群落垂直分层的重要性。