Updated list of anurans from Floresta Nacional Mário Xavier , Seropédica , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil : changes from 1990 to 2012

The Floresta Nacional Mário Xavier (FNMX) is a reserve located in the Municipality of Seropédica, State of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. It is an area with intense anthropic activity and is one of the last remaining forests of the Baixada Fluminense. An inventory of the anurans of the FNMX was performed and the results compared with those of a previous species list for the area. Thirteen excursions were conducted, totaling more than 416 hours of sampling effort. Twenty-six species belonging to five families were found: Bufonidae (one species), Hylidae (15 species), Leptodactylidae (six species), Microhylidae (three species) and Phyllomedusidae (one species). Six species on the previous list were not found in this study. Sphaenorhynchus planicola is a new record for the area. Two species are endangered: Chiasmocleis lacrimae and Physalaemus soaresi, the latter being considered critically endangered by the List of Brazilian Fauna Threatened with Extinction.


INTRODUCTION
Long-term data about species populations are important to conservation issues such as understanding amphibian declines (e.g., Laurance et al. 1996;Storfer 2003;Eterovick et al. 2005;Rantala et al. 2015).Because habitat loss is the major threat to amphibian populations in the Neotropics (Stuart et al. 2004), long-term field studies in severely fragmented areas are of fundamental importance for amphibian conservation (Becker et al. 2007).
The Floresta Nacional Mário Xavier (Mário Xavier National Forest, FNMX) is a federal forest reserve constantly exposed to pollution from intense anthropic activity, traffic and disorderly occupation in the vicinity.Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva (2001a) published an amphibian species list for FNMX using data collected between 1963 and 1990.Thirty-two species were recorded (Table 1), four of these having FNMX as the type locality: Stereocyclops parkeri, Dendropsophus pseudomeridianus, Chiasmocleis lacrimae [referred to as Chiasmocleis carvalhoi; see Peloso et al. (2014) for taxonomic discussion], and Physalaemus soaresi.The last two are listed as Endangered by IUCN (2015) and P. soaresi is also listed as Critically Endangered by the List of Brazilian Fauna Threatened with Extinction (ICMBIO 2014).Furthermore, Allobates olfersioides is also listed as Vulnerable by both IUCN (2015) and List of Brazilian Fauna Threatened with Extinction (ICMBIO 2014).
Recently the anthropic impacts on FNMX increased with the construction of a highway that passes through the reserve.Considering these impacts, the importance of the local anuran fauna and of the reserve itself, a new inventory of the anurans of FNMX was performed.

Study site
The FNMX is located in the Municipality of Seropédica, State of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil (22°43' S, 043°42' W, WGS84) (Figure 1).It is a flat lowland area with an elevation of about 40 m above sea level, with few slopes.FNMX is 4.93 km 2 (493 ha) in size, with an average annual temperature of 25.2 °C.It is composed of secondary ombrophilous forests and eucalyptus plantation (Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva 2001a).The reserve is one of the last remaining forests of the Baixada Fluminense (Fluminense lowlands) and of the plains of the Guandu River (Santos and Lima 1999).The area contains many humid and shaded environments, including several ponds, that present a favorable habitat for amphibians.searched for from sunset to at least 22:00 h.Tadpoles were captured with dipnets and adults were collected by hand.Specimens were collected under SISBIO permit number 21952.Specimens were euthanized, fixed, and deposited in the Amphibian Collection of the Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (ZUFRJ), Voucher specimens are listed in Appendix A.
Six main sampling areas, covering ponds and the bestpreserved areas, were chosen and sampled during all excursions (Figure 2).Environments outside these areas consist mainly of dry open areas and Eucalyptus plantations.These drier environments were also sampled, but with less effort.This scheme ensured sampling in several microhabitats, such as temporary and permanent ponds, forest borders, humid and dry litter.Collected data were compared to previous published inventories of similar areas, including Izecksohn and Carvalhoe-Silva (2001a) from the same area, and the Sorensen similarity index was calculated (Sorensen 1948).
Scinax alter and Dendropsophus elegans (Figure 3) were the most common species, found on all excursions.Five

DISCUSSION
Several differences can be noted between the anuran fauna recorded in this study and that found by Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva (2001a) (Table 1).Sphaenorhynchus planicola, recorded only in this study, represents a new record in FNMX.According to Izecksohn and Carvalhoe-Silva (2001a), this species was encountered nearby, but not within FNMX limits.Sphaenorhynchus planicola typically inhabit deep swamps and permanent ponds in open areas or forest borders (Lutz 1954;Cochran 1955;Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva 2001b;Silva-Soares et al. 2010) and are tolerant to disturbed environments (IUCN 2015).Changes in the characteristics of ponds in FNMX from the 1980s to 2012 may have made these ponds a good environment for this species, but this needs confirmation.
Seven species recorded by Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva (2001a), were not found in this study (Table 1).In the previous study, one female of Rhinella icterica was found, but the authors reported that its occurrence was probably due to discarded individuals from a nearby business that used this species for livestock pregnancy tests (Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva 2001a).Since this business no longer exists, the absence of this species is expected.Another missing species, Allobates olfersioides, is listed as Vulnerable by IUCN (2015) and its disappearance from FNMX is congruent with reports of declining and disappearing populations from other sites (Weygoldt 1989;Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva 2001b;Gasparini et al. 2007).The absence of Dendropsophus berthalutzae, D. seniculus, Scinax x-signatus, Leptodactylus mystacinus and L. natalensis could not be explained.However, highamplitude fluctuations in populations are common in amphibians, and environmental degradation can cause local extirpations of species (Pechmann et al. 1991).
Of the 26 species found in this study, 23 are listed as Least Concern by IUCN (2015).Of the other three, one species (Dendropsophus aff.oliveirai) could not have its specific status determined, because it is a new species.The other two species, Chiasmocleis lacrimae and Physalaemus soaresi, are listed as Endangered by IUCN (2015).Until 2010, the report of 12 individuals of Physalaemus soaresi from Barro Branco, Municipality of Duque de Caxias, was the only report of this species outside FNMX (Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva 2001a;Pontes et al. 2010).In 2009, a single female was found in a pitfall trap at Serra do Mendanha, Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, 25 km from FNMX (Pontes et al. 2010).Because no other individual has been found since then and because Serra do Mendanha has been sampled since 2002 (Pontes et al. 2010), the potential for a stable population at this locality must be verified.In both cases, the conservation status of Physalaemus soaresi would remain Endangered [IUCN criteria B1ab(iii)+2ab(iii)], and both Serra do Mendanha and FNMX must be protected in order to ensure the survival of populations of this species.The same viewpoint about the conservation status is shared by the List of Brazilian   Although FNMX has a relatively small area and low heterogeneity, its preservation is of high importance, considering the anuran fauna found there and the high level of anthropic impact.Long term monitoring surveys on anuran populations are necessary, as well as studies that might explain the disappearance of species found in the previous inventory (Izecksohn and Carvalho-e-Silva 2001a), but not in this study.Special effort must be made to ensure the survival of Physalaemus soaresi, due to its conservation status and possible threat.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Location of the Floresta Nacional Mário Xavier (red dot), Municipality of Seropédica, State of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Area of the Floresta Nacional Mário Xavier (red polygon) and the six main sample areas (green circled), numbered from 1 to 6. Source: Google Maps.