Biogeographic patterns: richness and diversity of amphibians in the [Southern plateau biogeographic province of Mexico] altiplano sur

The study of biodiversity, requires analysis of several aspects, such as scale in space and time to understand the underlying processes. In this study, amphibian distribution patterns of Southern Altiplano biogeographic province of Mexico, local and regional scales are analyzed. For the local scale, environmental heterogeneity was analyzed for 22 amphibian breeding sites, based on satellite imagery in raster format: normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), normalized difference moisture index (NDWI), land surface temperature (LST), and the topographic moisture index (TWI). For regional scale, alpha and beta diversity components were analyzed at three spatial resolutions (1/2 °, 1/4 ° and 1/8 °) from primary and secondary data of biodiversity. At local level, NDVI and NDWI were consistent with observed in field; However, LST was the variable with highest contribution (16.04%) to explain amphibian composition. At regional level, alpha and beta diversity components change (are underestimated or overestimated) based on spatial resolution at a fixed scale. In addition, the alpha and beta diversity index values were consistent at local scale. In general, scale perspectives provide relevant information to define the Southern Altiplano as a region with greater environmental heterogeneity. Implications of this study are very useful to identify priority areas for study of biodiversity in semi-arid regions. Findings of this thesis can help to implement actions and measures of management and conservation of natural resources, specifically for amphibians, vertebrate group highly vulnerable to landscape transformation and climate change.Thesis. M. Sc. in Innovation in Natural Resources Management, Colegio de Postgraduados, Campus San Luis Potosí, 201