We studied the thermal ecology of five populations (Marambaia, Barra de Maricá, Praia Grande, Praia do Foguete and Praia do Peró) of the endemic and endangered liolaemid lizard Liolaemus lutzae along its geographic range in coastal Rio de Janeiro state. Our aims were to analyze to what extent populations differ in mean body temperature and to evaluate the effect of some local environmental factors (such as air and substrate temperatures in the microhabitat and wind intensity) on lizard body temperature. Lizards were manually collected during its period of activity (7 to 18 h) from late February to early April 2012 (rainy season), always under similar weather conditions (sunny days). The body and environmental temperatures as well as wind intensity were taken immediately after capture at the same point where each lizard was initially sighted. The mean body temperature of L. lutzae in activity (all populations pooled) was 33.2±2.5°C (range=22.5-40.2; N=242) and varied from 31.5±2.6°C (range=25.4-36.2; N=34) to 34.0±2.2°C (range=29.1-39.2; N=67), depending of the locality. However, after removing the effect of the local thermal environment no interpopulational differences remained, suggesting a relative conservativeness in body temperature for the species. Temperatures of air and substrate interact to influence body temperature of individuals locally. Air temperature decreased with the increase of wind intensity, suggesting an indirect effect of wind in lizard body temperatures. Sex or body size did not affect lizard body temperature.Mean and maximum air temperatures in Rio de Janeiro municipality show an increase since 1930's.
A percepção ambiental tem sido indicada como uma possibilidade de estudo prévio em projetos que busquem a reflexão, sensibilização e mobilização do indivíduo para o tema ambiental. O presente estudo buscou, através do desenho, compreender como os alunos do 6° ano do Ensino Fundamental percebem o ecossistema de restinga. A pesquisa foi conduzida na Escola Municipalizada de Inoã, localizada no município de Maricá - RJ. Obtivemos um total de 30 desenhos, dos quais 90% continham algum tipo de vegetação e 20% continham representantes da fauna costeira. Em relação ao grau de conservação das restingas, 36,6% dos 30 desenhos representavam restingas preservadas e 63,6% apresentavam restinga com interferência humana. Os resultados demostraram que os alunos perceberam o ecossistema de restinga como tendo uma forte relação com a estrutura vegetal. No entanto, independente de representarem restingas preservadas ou não, a interferência humana no ambiente de restinga foi um item frequente nos desenhos.
Esta pesquisa é parte de uma tese de doutorado que buscou investigar a influência da crise climática e degradação ambiental na preservação de uma espécie de lagarto de restinga e a importância do fator social para a manutenção do ambiente. Visto que as restingas estão entre os ecossistemas mais ameaçados do país devido à sua localização costeira, discutimos aqui uma proposta de projeto de conservação desenvolvida com alunos do 6° ano de uma escola municipal da região litorânea do estado do Rio de Janeiro. Desenvolvemos um cronograma com atividades lúdicas que abordassem os principais impactos presentes neste ambiente e suas consequências para o ecossistema e população local, priorizando o debate a partir do conhecimento prévio dos alunos.
Data on the composition of local reptile assemblages in several Brazilian ecosystems can still be considered relatively restricted in scope in most cases. In this study, we conducted surveys in the Serra das Torres Natural Monument, located in the municipalities of Atílio Vivacqua, Muqui, and Mimoso do Sul, using the Rapid Assessments method (RAP) during 30 days in the rainy season of 2018. We sampled actively for approximately 1320 hours with a 6-10 person crew, supplemented by 720 hours of passive sampling (30 bucket-days) using pitfall traps with drift fences. We recorded 34 reptile species during our sampling method (2 amphisbaenid, 11 lizards, and 21 snakes) and an occasional encounter, after the end of sampling, that added a chelonian species to the list, Hydromedusa maximiliani, totaling 35 reptile species. The Dipsadidae was the family with the greatest snake species richness and, the Gymnophtalmidae had the greatest lizard species richness. The species richness recorded in the Serra das Torres Natural Monument (Ntotal = 35) represents ca. 27% of all reptile species found in the state of Espírito Santo (N = 130). The most abundant lizard species was Leposoma scincoides followed by Ecpleopus gaudichaudii and, the most abundant snake species was Bothrops jararaca being markedly higher than that recorded in similar studies. Twenty-seven percent of the reptile species recorded in our study are endemic to the Atlantic Forest and 30% (N = 10) have been recorded less than five times previously in the Brazilian state of Espírito Santo. Our study reinforces the need for the conservation of the Serra das Torres Natural Monument because of its importance as a reservoir of a considerable portion of the reptile biodiversity of Espírito Santo state, and of the Atlantic Forest biome as a whole.
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