Padrões taxonômicos e espaciais do risco de extinção de espécies de anfíbios anuros do Cerrado

Abstract

The Cerrado is the second largest Brazilian biome and one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. Habitat losses are frequent in the biome, increasing the risk of extinction for several organisms, including amphibians. The present study aims to understand the geographic and taxonomic patterns of extinction risk of anuran amphibians from the Cerrado, as well as to analyze the main areas of influence of threats on the species richness of anurans in this biome, and to evaluate how much of the geographic distribution of each are inserted in officially protected areas. For this, we used a macroecological approach based on the extent of occurrence of 230 anuran species occurring in the Cerrado. Our results showed that about a third of the anuran species recorded for the Cerrado are endemic and that more than 62% of the species have at least half of their extent of occurrence within the biome. We found greater richness in the central and southeastern regions of the Cerrado. Agriculture, fire, mining, and hydroelectric projects are threats that overlap the higher anuran richness verified in the same region. In addition, approximately 19% of the analyzed species are not represented in any officially protected area and only 1% have their geographic distribution completely inserted in Integral Protection conservation units. Our analyzes highlight the Cerrado anuran species and regions mostly influenced by present threats and of priority for urgent conservation initiatives.