Microhabitat use and diet of the endemic rain frog’s ensemble from the San Lorenzo sector, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia

Species coexisting in ensembles generally use resources differently. This partitioning arises to avoid negative interactions between heterospecifics, such as competition, resulting in a structured resource use. In this study, we characterise microhabitat and dietary resources; additionally, we evaluate dietary niche overlap within the rain frogs (Strabomantidae: Pristimantinae) ensemble in San Lorenzo sector of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia. Our results indicate that microhabitat use was different among seven species within the ensemble; except for Serranobatrachus cristinae, S. delicatus and S. carmelitae, the other species showed association for one type of microhabitat, such as Tachiramantis tayrona to bromeliads. On the other hand, we obtained stomach contents for three species: S. sanctaemartae, S. megalops and S. cristinae. The diet consisted mainly of insects, and to a lesser extent myriapods, crustaceans and arachnids. No significant differences were observed between the diets of S. sanctaemartae and S. cristinae, but there were notable distinctions between S. sanctaemartae and S. megalops. The trophic niche overlap index suggests a partial overlap between S. cristinae and S. sanctaemartae. However, the microhabitat used by these species was different, taking food items from all the strata evaluated. Resources are generally distributed among this ensemble and some species that share microhabitat vary in diet or perch height. Keywords: coexistence, trophic niche, resources, ecology, overlap niche