$re = '/(?<!^title = ){|}(?!,$)/m';
$str = 'title = {Novel breeding habitat, oviposition microhabitat, and parental care in {Bokermannohyla} caramaschii ({Anura}: {Hylidae}) in southeastern {Brazil}},';
$subst = "";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$result;
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php