Ecology of a snake assemblage in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to examine the natural history and the ecology of the species that constitute a snake assemblage in the Atlantic Rainforest, at Núcleo Picinguaba, Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, located on the northern coast of the state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The main aspects studied were: richness, relative abundance, daily and seasonal activity, and substrate use. We also provide additional information on natural history of the snakes. A total of 282 snakes, distributed over 24 species, belonging to 16 genera and four families, has been found within the area of the Núcleo Picinguaba. Species sampled more frequently were Bothrops jararaca and B. jararacussu. The methods that yielded the best results were time constrained search and opportunistic encounters. Among the abiotic factors analyzed, minimum temperature, followed by the mean temperature and the rainfall are apparently the most important in determining snake abundance. Most species presented a diet concentrated on one prey category or restricted to a few kinds of food items. The large number of species that feed on frogs points out the importance of this kind of prey as an important food resource for snakes in the Atlantic Rainforest. Our results indicate that the structure of the Picinguaba snake assemblage reflects mainly the phylogenetic constraints of each of its lineages.

Composition and natural history of the snakes from the Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio, southern Minas Gerais, Serra da Mantiqueira, Brazil

“…Areas used for the analysis of similarity between snake assemblages.The following snake assemblages were included in the analyzes: São Paulo State: 1 Parque Estadual Turístico do Alto Ribeira (Araújo et al 2010) 2 Ilha da Cananéia (Cicchi et al 2007) 3 Parque Estadual Ilha do Cardoso (Rocha et al 2008) 4 Fazenda Etá (Fiorillo 2016) 5 Ilha Comprida (Cicchi et al 2007) 6 Estação Ecológica Juréia-Itatins (Marques and Sazima 2004) 7 Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho (Forlani et al 2010) 8 Municipalities of Tapiraí and Piedade (Condez et al 2009) 9 São Sebastião (Centeno et al 2008) 10 Ilhabela (Centeno et al 2008) 11 Parque Municipal de Paranapiacaba (Trevine et al 2014) 12 São Paulo (Barbo et al 2011) 13 Parque Estadual da Serra do Japi (Sazima and Haddad 1992) 14 São Vicente Island (Cicchi et al 2007) 15 Santo Amaro Island (Cicchi et al 2007) 16 Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar (Núcleo Santa Virgínia) (Hartmann et al 2009a) 17 Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar (Núcleo Picinguaba) (Hartmann et al 2009b) 18 São José do Barreiro (Ortiz et al 2017); Rio de Janeiro State 19 Ilha Grande (Rocha and Van-Sluys 2006) 20 Parque Natural Municipal da Serra do Mendanha (Pontes et al 2009) 21 Duque de Caxias (Salles and Silva-Soares 2010) 22 Niterói (Citeli et al 2016) 23 Estação Ecológica do Paraíso (Vrcibradic et al 2011) 24 Núcleo Experimental de Iguaba Grande (Martins et al 2012) Minas Gerais State 25 Munhoz (Cardoso 2011) 26 Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio (This study) 27 Parque Estadual da Serra do Brigadeiro (Moura et al 2012) 28 Viçosa (Costa et al 2010) 29 Ouro Branco (São-Pedro and Pires 2009) 30 Ouro Preto and surroundings (Silveira et al 2010) 31 Estação Ambiental de Peti (Bertoluci et al 2009). …”

“…The name “Taeniophallusgr.occipitalis” was used for specimens traditionally referred to as Taeniophallusoccipitalis (Jan, 1863) because more than one species often fall under this designation (Santos-Jr. 2008). Specimens identified as Mussuranamontana (Franco, Marques & Puorto, 1997) by Hartmann et al (2009b) belong to Pseudoboaserrana Morato, Moura-Leite, Prudente & Bérnils, 1995 (Francísco Luís Franco pers. obs.).…”

“…Specimens identified as Atractus sp. by Hartmann et al (2009b) were described as Atractusfrancoi Passos, Fernandes, Bérnils and Moura-Leite, 2010. Specimens referred to as Dipsas sp.…”

“…These features pose challenges to quantitative and comprehensive study of these populations. There have been several efforts to describe the ecology and natural history of snakes in Brazil (e.g., Amazon Forest: Cunha and Nascimento 1978, Martins and Oliveira 1998, Pantanal: Strüsmann and Sazima 1993, Cerrado: Nogueira 2001, Sawaya et al 2008, Caatinga: Mesquita et al 2013, Guedes et al 2014; Atlantic Forest: Marques 1998, Cicchi et al 2007, Centeno 2008, Cicchi et al 2009, Hartmann et al 2009a, b, Trevine et al 2014). Although these studies have advanced our understanding of snake fauna in various ecosystems, studies focusing on snake communities in high altitude areas and the Araucaria forests remain scarce.…”

“…Although these studies have advanced our understanding of snake fauna in various ecosystems, studies focusing on snake communities in high altitude areas and the Araucaria forests remain scarce. Studies with this focus are mainly concentrated in the Serra do Mar of São Paulo State (e. g., Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar: Hartmann et al 2009b; Parque Natural Municipal Nascentes de Paranapiacaba: Trevine et al 2014; Parque Nacional da Serra da Bocaina: Ortiz et al (2017) and southern Brazil (e.g., Centro de Pesquisas e Conservação da Natureza Pró-Mata: Di-Bernardo 1998; Parque Nacional de Aparados da Serra: Deiques 2009). However, there is a lack of knowledge about the Serra da Mantiqueira snake fauna.…”