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Vol. 49 No. 5, 2010
Comparison of Stream Frog Assemblages at Three Elevations in
an Evergreen Forest, North-Central Thailand
Ratchata
Phochayavanich1, Harold K. Voris2, Wichase Khonsue1,
Somying Thunhikorn3, and Kumthorn Thirakhupt1,*
1Department
of Biology, Faculty of Science, Chulalongkorn Univ., Pathumwan, Bangkok
10330, Thailand
2Division of Amphibians and Reptiles, Department of
Zoology, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL 60605, USA
3Phuluang
Wildlife Research Station, Wildlife Research Division, Department of
National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, Chatuchak, Bangkok
10900, Thailand
Ratchata
Phochayavanich, Harold K. Voris, Wichase Khonsue, Somying Thunhikorn,
and Kumthorn Thirakhupt (2010) A
study of stream-dwelling frog assemblages was conducted at 800, 950,
and 1250 m in elevation on the Nam San Noi stream, Phuluang Wildlife
Sanctuary, north-central Thailand. Three transects, each 100 m
long which ran along the stream, were designated at each
elevation. Visual encounter surveys were conducted within each
transect at night from June 2006 to May 2007. The Shannon-Wiener
index of species diversity indicated that the diversity was highest at
the lowest elevation and lowest at the highest elevation, while
Morishita’s similarity index indicated that species compositions at 800
and 950 m were very similar to each other, but both of them differed
from that at the highest elevation (1250 m). Over all 3
elevations, 4 of the most common species (with abundances exceeding 1%)
were least abundant at the highest elevation, while 2 species, Limnonectes kuhlii and Odorrana aureola, were most
abundant at the highest elevation. The abundance of Lim. gyldenstolpei
fluctuated among the 3 elevations. These results indicated that
the frog compositions significantly differed between 2 elevation
groups, that is between (a) the group consisting of 800 and 950 m and
(b) that at 1250 m, and also that frog diversity tended to be highest
at the lowest elevation.
Key words: Frog
diversity, Species composition, Steam transects, Elevational
differences.
*Correspondence: Tel: 662-2185259. Fax:
662-2185260. E-mail:kumthorn.t@chula.ac.th
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