Decimations, Extinctions, and Colonizations of Frog Populations in Southeast Brazil and Their Evolutionary Implications

Analysis of a 35 year data base on frogs from species assemblages in southeastern Brazil, suggests three kinds of species changes: the appearance of Hyla albopunctata at Boraceia; the possible extinction of Fritziana ohausi at Boraceia when the bamboo species in which Fritziana reproduces flowered and died; and population reductions and extinctions of a number of species at several localities in southeastern Brazil in 1979. We argue that the cause of this latter event was most likely due to unusually heavy frosts. The unusual event in 1979 had differential effects on the species which resulted in both short-term ecological changes within the assemblages effected and potential long-term evolutionary effects on the assemblages and individual species involved.