Katy is studying amphibian diversity in Amazonian flooded forests of Peru for a PhD at DICE, University of Kent. The flooded forests of Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve contains over 80 species of amphibians, with potentially many more undiscovered. This PhD has focused on the effects of disturbance, seasonal flooding and survey effort on amphibian diversity. Seasonal flooding has a significant impact on amphibian diversity, altering their breeding habits, and even excluding certain species. Flooding also enables the growth of a unique amphibian habitat, the floating meadows, which are utilized by a separate amphibian assemblage to that found in the surrounding terrestrial forest. Pacaya-Samiria potentially offers an insight into the huge Pebas Lake ecosystem which dominated this landscape around 10MYA.
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