An experimental test of the importance of isolated trees for frog diversity in tropical landscapes

Isolated trees are conspicuous in fragmented landscapes and are often considered “keystone structures”, due to their significant ecological role despite occupying small areas. They are also regarded as “biodiversity foci”, because they may support higher abundance and species richness than nearby open areas. However, these suggestions have not been tested experimentally yet. Using experimental ponds and amphibians as a model system, we tested the importance of isolated trees for biological communities in a biodiversity hotspot, the Atlantic Forest.
We built and sampled 28 artificial ponds, ten near the edge of a continuous forest, nine beneath isolated trees and nine in open pasture. To test for differences in amphibian community structure among experimental treatments, we quantified community abundance, local species richness, and community composition. We also tested whether the abundance of the four numerically dominant species in the ponds (Physalaemus signifer, Leptodactylus latran..., , # An experimental test of the importance of isolated trees for frog diversity in tropical landscapes

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.q2bvq83xn](10.5061/dryad.q2bvq83xn)

## Description of the data and file structure

The dataset provides the abundance of 14 frog species in 28 experimental ponds of different treatments: edge ponds (N = 10), tree ponds (N = 9), and open ponds (N =9). Bo_al = *Boana albomarginata*; Bo_se = *Boana semilineata*; De_de = *Dendropsophus decipiens*; De_el = *Dendropsophus elegans*; De_me = *Dendropsophus meridianus*; De_mi = *Dendropsophus minutus*; De_se = *Dendropsophus seniculus*; Le_fu = *Leptodactylus fuscus*; Le_la = *Leptodactylus latrans*; Ph_si = *Physalaemus signifer*; Pi_ro = *Pithecopus rohdei*; Rh_ic = *Rhinella icterica*; Rh_or = *Rhinella ornata*; Sc_xs = *Scinax *aff.* x-signatus*.
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