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Dryad

Data from: Herpetological richness and diversity in an offshore archipelago of the Tropical Eastern Pacific

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Aug 19, 2024 version files 20.37 KB

Abstract

Some of the fundamental predictions of the theory of Island Biogeography establish that species richness will positively correlate with the island's area and inversely correlate with the distance from the nearest land mass. Coiba National Park (CNP) comprises an offshore archipelago of around 35 islands and islets of different areas off the coast of the Panama Pacific. This archipelago was once attached to the Mainland and separated from it around 12,000 ya, creating a barrier for further species colonization. In this study, the herpetological richness, diversity and community assemblages were assessed along four different islands of CNP. Amphibian richness was lower in the islands (maximum five spp.) compared to the mainland (11 spp.); meanwhile, reptile richness was similar between the mainland and Coiba island (21 spp.). Amphibian diversity was in the same order of magnitude among the mainland (H´= 1.18) and the islands of CNP (maximum H´=1.36), except for Canales de Afuera island, which was deprived of amphibians. Interestingly, reptile diversity on the mainland was higher (H´= 2.67) than on the rest of the CNP islands (maximum H´= 2.06). The area of the islands was positively correlated with amphibian species richness but not with reptile richness and no effect of distance was found. The herpetological communities were less similar between the Mainland and the islands of CNP, possibly reflecting not only dispersal limitations but also specific adaptation to the more pristine habitats of the latest. Based on these results, CNP may harbor a unique herpetological fauna with local adaptations to the habitat, influenced by biogeographical elements and past anthropogenic factors that need to be investigated in more detail.