Effects of fish on reptile and amphibian community assemblages in wetlands of variable permanence

Many herpetofaunal species are imperiled, and the causes of this are often a
synergy of multiple factors. In wetlands specifically, two of the possible determinants of
species occurrence and faunal community assemblage are fish presence and wetland
permanence, which are not always correlated. Twenty wetlands were sampled in
Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Florida, USA to observe how wetland herpetofaunal
communities vary with fish, wetland permanence and other environmental factors.
Herpetofaunal communities with and without fish were significantly different from one
another and differences between herpetofaunal communities were primarily due to the
contribution of four species of frogs, two generalist ranids and two specialist hylids.
Wetland permanence had no observable effect on community structure. Fishless wetlands were significantly more species-rich and possessed higher numbers of individuals even for species that occurred in both fishless and fish wetlands, regardless of their permanence. These findings have implications for wetlands restoration and herpetofaunal conservation.