Hogmoed's original species description has some notes about the habitat, talking more informally about that expedition here. d'Orgeix et al. did a survey in 2019 for azureus where they briefly describe the general surroundings of their survey plots too. Overall it sounds like you've already got most of the information he presented by these primary sources.

 

This seems mostly focused on the savanna plants, but may be of some help:

Plants of the Sipaliwini Savanna

The Sipaliwini Savanna in Southern Surinam is an area of outstanding natural beauty and great scientific interest. During a six month expedition in 1968 – 69 and supplementary visits in 1970 and 1972 we were fortunate enough to study the flora and vegetation of this largely unknown part of Surinam

sipaliwinisavanna.com

I found it searching 'sipaliwini savanna forest islands' on Google Scholar -- might be worth a search to see what else pops up.

 

Some fun reading there!

Not that I haven't always appreciated these stunning blue frogs but learning about their range in the forest islands of the Vier Gebroeders Mountain makes them all the more fascinating!

 

Check out the Dutch Rana website. It contains pictures of the owner's/Ruud's trips to Suriname.

 

A couple more resources for anyone following along,

Hoogmoed 1969

The author notes the habitat of D. tinctorius "azures" thusly,

D. azureus seems to be restricted to some of the forest-islands in the
Sipaliwini savannah (fig. 3). Despite extensive collecting i n the forest ad
joining the western border of the savannah, no D. azureus could be collected
there; instead D. trivittatus (Spix) was present. Thus, D. azureus seems to
be a relict that survived in the forest-islands, after the forest that formerly
covered the area, gave way to the savannah. The forest-islands are separated
completely, both from each other and from the forest bordering on the
savannah, by savannah-area's which appear to be impassable for D. azureus.
Because of this, it is not probable that the species originated by isolation in
one of the forest-islands and afterwards invaded other forest-islands. . .

The physiognomy of the forest-islands inhabited by D. azureus is similar
to that of the vast area of forest covering most of Surinam. No influence of
the surrounding savannah was evident, though the numbers and kinds of
species of trees and shrubs may differ slightly. Most of the forest-islands
inhabited by D. azureus are situated on slopes of hills. All of them are
stretched out along a creek descending the slope. These creeks run smoothly
across the forest floor for short stretches and then form falls or just dis-
appear into the ground between enormous boulders, sometimes coming to the
surface again about fifteen metres lower down the slope. Between these
rounded boulders there are large cavities Most boulders are covered by
mosses and ferns that thrive in the humid atmosphere (pi. 3 figs. 1, 2). The
boulders seem to represent a very important condition i n the habitat of the
frogs, because i n forest islands in which they are absent, D. azureus is absent
too. I n all forest-islands where D. azureus occurred it was only present among
and near the boulders. A l l frogs were taken in the immediate vicinity of the
creeks, never more than 20 metres from water. The water in the creeks is
very clear and has a temperature of about 25o C. The air temperature in the
forest-islands is about 27o C i n daytime and drops to about 20o C during the
night. D. azureus was collected at elevations between 315 and 430 metres
above sea level.

It may be safe to assume that the flora of the forest islands is

Unpublished population data of Dendrobates azureus Hoogmoed 1969 obtained in 1968 and 1970

This paper offers a timeline that seems very valuable.

 

I meant to write "It may be safe to assume that the flora of the forest islands is similar to surrounding jungle found outside of the sipaliwini savanna"

 

Noob here and highly considering building a biotope for these cute guys! I was rifling through some of the old research expedition papers and also data from sipaliwinisavanna.com, trying to figure out exactly which plants I need to use. I figured finding a bromeliad species was a good place to start. Unless I missed some Bromeliad Genera, I somehow can't find a single bromeliad species listed in either of the two sources i'm referencing. Then I found your post!

RE your last comment. I'll have to take a look at data from the surrounding areas soon. Good to know that it's likely similar to the forest islands. Did you end up making a biotope tank yourself? or have any plant suggestions from further research you've done?

 

I haven't made the biotope yet, nor have I found any research of the botany of the Vier Gebroeders Mountains. I've tried emailing the authors papers on the botany of the savanna. My next step will be gonig to the library at Humboldt CalPoly and asking for help, but Im not optimistic. I believe the research just may not have been done.

 

I had ChatGTP digest the book An enumeration of the vascular plants known from Surinam : together with their distribution and synonymy.

Here is the list of plants that were observed on the Vier Gebroeders,

• Clusia grandiflora
• Erythroxylum magnoliifolium
• Miconia nervosa
• Protium tenuifolium
• Ocotea schomburgkiana
• Ilex guianensis
• Aspidosperma excelsum
• Simaba orinocensis
• Ternstroemia dentata
• Duroia fusifera
• Ouratea semiserrata
• Xylopia discreta
• Chimarrhis turbinata
• Inga disticha
• Pithecellobium sp.

Nearly all trees/shrubs.

 

Well that's annoying... I did not think it would be this hard to figure out which plants I need LOL. As I said in another comment, I've messaged a horticulturalist who was there to collect some azureus. I will let you know if he responds with anything useful. If not I will try to contact the people suggested by Seisage.

 

That sounds great. Glad to have you working no this!