Fiorillo Bruno F, da Silva Bruno R, Menezes Frederico Alcântara, Marques Otavio A V, Martins Marcio
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia Aplicada, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Universidade de São Paulo. CEP 13418900, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
Laboratório de Coleções Zoológicas. Instituto Butantan, Av. Vital Brazil, 1500, São Paulo, SP, 05503-900, Brazil.
Zookeys. 2020 Apr 30;931:115-153. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.931.46882. eCollection 2020.
Approximately 140 snake species are known to occur in the Atlantic Forest with nearly half being endemic to this ecoregion. However, the Atlantic forest is one of the most threatened tropical ecoregions, with only 16% of its original area remaining as forest. This extensive habitat loss must have had a negative effect on its snake fauna. Indeed, 53% of the threatened snakes of Brazil occur in the Atlantic forest. Therefore, basic natural history information that can potentially contribute to the conservation of Atlantic forest snakes are urgently needed. Here the natural history of a snake assemblage at Etá Farm region, Sete Barras municipality, south-eastern Brazil is described, and a visual guide and an identification key provided that can be used by researchers and local people to identify snakes from this region. Most of the species found in the field use both open areas and forests, are primarily terrestrial, present diurnal activity, and include frogs in their diet. A higher number of enlarged follicles, eggs, and/or embryos were recorded during the warm and rainy season. Seventeen different types of defensive tactics were recorded in the species found in the field. This study provides useful information for understanding the structure of snake assemblages of the Atlantic Forest and is potentially useful for conservation assessments and for designing conservation plans.
已知约140种蛇类出现在大西洋森林中，其中近一半是该生态区域特有的。然而，大西洋森林是受威胁最严重的热带生态区域之一，其原始面积仅剩下16%的森林。这种大面积的栖息地丧失必定对其蛇类动物群产生了负面影响。事实上，巴西53%的受威胁蛇类都出现在大西洋森林中。因此，迫切需要能够潜在地有助于保护大西洋森林蛇类的基础自然历史信息。在此描述了巴西东南部塞特巴拉斯市埃塔农场地区一个蛇类群落的自然历史，并提供了一份视觉指南和一份鉴定手册，研究人员和当地居民可利用它们来识别该地区的蛇类。在野外发现的大多数物种既利用开阔区域也利用森林，主要生活在陆地上，具有昼间活动习性，且以青蛙为食。在温暖多雨的季节记录到了更多数量的增大卵泡、卵和/或胚胎。在野外发现的物种中记录到了17种不同类型的防御策略。这项研究为了解大西洋森林蛇类群落的结构提供了有用信息，并且可能对保护评估和制定保护计划有用。
