Major Factors Affecting The Distribution Of Anuran Communities Along An Urban-rural Gradient In Shanghai, China

Recently, one of the important reasons for the worldwide decline of anurans is rapid urbanization. However, the effects of landscape and microhabitat variables on subsistence of anurans in rapid urbanized metropolitan of tropical and subtropical regions are rarely reported. In the present study, the relationship between distribution pattern of anuran communities and habitat variables in 24 wetlands along urban-rural gradient categorized according to the proportion of hard ground cover has been explored. We found a downtrend in the richness and total density of anuran species as the increase of urbanization indictors,the building cover values higher than 80% have significant effect on species richness and total density of anurans,and the two index of the area which building cover values higher than 80% are lowest. Different anuran species had various responses to urbanization process, and individual anuran has adapted to the urban environment, The density of Beijing gold-striped pond frogs (Pelophylax plancyi) and Zhoushan toads (Bufo gargarizans) did not reveal a significant difference among urbanization gradients, we think they can adapted to the urbanization process. Landscape change due to the urbanization has weak prediction than microhabitat variables on the density and distribution of Beijing gold-striped pond frogs.and loating-leaved vegetation and emergent vegetation is good at predictive Beijing gold-striped pond frogs occurrence, those vegetation can provide shelter for larvae and spawning sites for adult Beijing gold-striped pond frogs.building cover values higher than 80% have significantly affected the distribution and density of Black-spotted pond frogt(Pelophylax niromaculatus),and they preference large bodies of water. Hong Kong rice-paddy frogs suffering from the cropland loss dramatically during rapid urbanization, and this species usually choose mud coast cave as their hibernation sites.so the bare land around breeding grounds is also important.Ornamented pygmy frogs is sensitive to paddy ecosystem loss, but because the number of Ornamented pygmy frogs in the study was small, related contents still need further study...