SOUSA, I. T. F.; http://lattes.cnpq.br/5840255251712218; SOUSA, Ítalo Társis Ferreira de.
Resumo:
The anthropic actions have caused damage to the environment, since there is technicalscientific
helplessness on the part of the human being making the use of resources sometimes
aggressive to nature. In this context, it is considered of scientific value to know the fauna of
areas without sampling and to apply to the species found ecology methodologies so that one
can understand how the groupings of species are distributed in nature and how they are
influenced by abiotic factors and by the interactions between populations. Squamata reptiles
are considered model organisms for this type of research. The aim of this study was to
investigate the diversity and ecology of a community of Squamata reptiles in an area of
Caatinga, in the Verdes Pastos Ecological Reserve (REVP), São Mamede, Paraíba, Brazil.
The fieldwork was conducted between September 2016 and August 2017, with monthly
expedition and that lasted for three days each. Three methods were considered for data
collection, with "visual demand limited by time" being the main method. The statistical
analyzes for the data included the richness and abundance of the species and also the temporal
and spatial niche. In terms of diversity, REVP presents a richness of 27 species of Squamata
reptiles. The observed richness was lower than that estimated by the estimators. The
distribution of abundances was adjusted to the log-normal model. The dominant species were
Ameivula ocellifera (n = 543; 37.5%) and Tropidurus hispidus (n = 333; 22.3%). In the study
of community ecology, there were 1448 sightings distributed among individuals of 23 species,
14 species (8 families) of lizards and 9 species (4 families) of snakes. The reptiles were
observed using 40 types of microhabitats, the microhabitat being the "litter among/under
seasonal herbaceous stratum", most used by the studied community (N=317, 21.95%). The
species with the greatest spatial niche (microhabitat) and temporal width was Brasiliscincus
heathi (BM=0.690; BTBhe=0.710). High spatial and temporal niche overlap rates were
observed between Leptodeira annulata snake and four lizard species. It was observed that
atmospheric conditions influence the activity of sighted individuals. There was no significant
difference between rainfall and abundance (rs = 0.9378 t = 8.5414 p = 0.0001). This research
was the second to record two species of Micrurus in an area of Caatinga bringing to the fore a
taxonomic problem about the genus Micrurus in the biome, implying conservation issues.
Further studies on the survey of Squamata reptiles fauna, and perhaps even more urgent, are
needed to carry out studies on the ecology of these communities in Caatinga areas, since
many knowledge gaps need to be filled and the constant degradation of the biome the
information not yet discovered.