Status and Population Trend of Amphibians in Relation to Microenvironment at Montane Forests, Southern Mexico

Georgina Santos Barrera

The major goal of this project is to evaluate the diversity (abundance and richness) of threatened amphibians in tropical montane cloud forests in Veracruz and Guerrero, Mexico in order to assess the population trend of the amphibian populations in relation to the environment. Thirteen environmental variables describing microclimate, vegetation structure, and topography will be measured to get information on alpha (within forest), beta (species exchange between forests) and gamma (landscape level) diversity of amphibian communities in the forests. We will determine the degree of knowledge of local communities about threatened amphibians inhabiting the forests, the common uses, persistency and biology.