Répteis e anfíbios da Floresta Nacional de Ritápolis

Abstract

Brazil have approximately 10% of the species of reptiles and amphibians of the world, being extremely important in the worldwide conservation of these bioindicator groups. The Mata Atlântica and Cerrado are recognized in the world for their high species richness and both are considered hotspots. The greatest threats to the brazilian herpetofauna are concentrated in these phytogeographic domains and result, mainly, from habitat loss and degradation. In order to avoid the extinction of species, even before they are described, the scientific effort to know the composition of communities in areas not yet studied is particularly important, as well as the adoption of effective sampling methods. In this context, the present research was developed in the Ritápolis National Forest and in the surrounding area, located in ecotone between Cerrado and Mata Atlântica, aiming to present the first inventory of the reptile and amphibian species of this protected area and aiming to present a comparative study of the efficiency of funnel traps and pitfall traps in the sampling of amphibians and Squamata reptiles and to verify if there are significant differences in the effectiveness of these methods to estimate diversity and to sampling the community compositions, testing a new funnel trap model. The results for the Ritápolis National Forest and the surrounding region, including the Serra de São José Protection Area, recorded a richness of 56 species of squamata reptiles and 33 species of amphibians, demonstrating that, despite the intense pressure and degradation of habitats, the region still presents considerable diversity. The discussion presents aspects of the natural history of some species, the potential threats and proposes strategic conservation actions to the herpetofauna of the region. The results and analyzes showed that the funnel and pitfall traps presented a similar efficiency to estimate diversity and to sampling the community compositions, whose samples obtained by the two methods for amphibians and reptiles were similar. The new funnel trap model tested presented a sampling efficiency similar to the pitfall traps and presenting easy transport logistic for use in remote areas, which are difficult to access. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods are presented, the recommendations about their use and the demands for future researches.