Data from: The relationship between pond habitat depth and functional tadpole diversity in an agricultural landscape

One of the most important goals of biodiversity studies is to identify which characteristics of local habitats act as filters that determine the diversity of functional traits along environmental gradients. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the environmental variables of ponds and the functional trait diversity distribution of anuran tadpoles in an agricultural area in southeastern Brazil. Our results show that the functional trait diversity of frog tadpoles has a bell-curve-shaped relationship with the depths of ponds inserted in a pasture matrix. Because we are witnessing increasing human pressure on land use, simple acts (e.g. maintaining reproductive habitats with medium depth) can be the first steps towards preserving the diversity of Neotropical frog tadpole traits in agricultural landscapes.

生物多样性研究的核心目标之一，是厘清本地生境的哪些特征可作为过滤因子，调控沿环境梯度分布的功能性状（functional trait）多样性。本研究以巴西东南部某农业区域内的池塘为研究对象，探究了池塘环境变量与无尾目蝌蚪功能性状多样性分布之间的关联。研究结果显示，嵌入牧场景观基质的池塘，其水深与蛙类蝌蚪的功能性状多样性呈钟形曲线型关联。鉴于当前人类土地利用压力持续加剧，诸如维持中等水深繁殖生境这类简易举措，可为农业景观中新热带蛙类蝌蚪功能性状多样性的保护奠定初步基础。