Amphibians and reptiles from the Parque Nacional da Tijuca, Brazil, one of the world’s largest urban forests

Abstract

The Parque Nacional da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is considered to be one of the world’s largest urban forests, however no systematic inventory of its herpetofauna is available. In the present study, we surveyed the amphibians and reptiles of this park to assess its species composition (including secondary data) and obtain estimates of species richness and abundance. We conducted active searches (460 hours) between January 2013 and December 2015. We identified the taxa endemic to either the Atlantic Forest or Rio de Janeiro state, and verified the conservation status of each species in the international, Brazilian, and state red lists. We also estimated the species richness and sampling sufficiency by rarefaction curves and Bootstrap richness estimator, and analyzed the distribution of the species abundance in Whittaker plots. We recorded 3,288 individuals over 36 months, representing 24 species of amphibians and 25 reptiles. The cumulative species curves, rarefaction, and the richness estimated indicated that sampling effort was adequate. Species abundance adjusted to the log-series model in both amphibians and reptiles. The four most abundant amphibians represented 70% of the individuals recorded in this group, while the two most abundant reptiles represented 60% of the total individuals. The inclusion of the secondary data raised the number of amphibian species to 38, and the number of reptiles to 36. Approximately 80% of the amphibian species and 28% of the reptile species recorded are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, and six of the amphibian species are endemic to Rio de Janeiro state. Six amphibian species and one reptile species are classified under some threat of extinction, and two reptile species were exotic. The considerable diversity of the herpetofauna of the Parque Nacional da Tijuca, which includes endemic and threatened species, reflects the effectiveness of the reforestation of this protected area and emphasizes the importance of its conservation.

Anuran species composition and density estimates from an Atlantic Forest area within the APA Serra da Mantiqueira, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil

“…The state of Rio de Janeiro, whose territory is entirely included within the Atlantic Forest domain, was recently reported to harbor 201 amphibian species (Dorigo et al 2018), and new species with occurrence in the state are still being steadily described (e.g., Folly et al 2018, Pereira Silva et al 2018, Taucce et al 2018, Cruz et al 2019, Nunes et al 2021. In recent years, lists of species of amphibians have been compiled or updated for several forested areas in the state of Rio de Janeiro (e.g., Almeida-Gomes et al 2014, Caram et al 2016, Carvalho-e-Silva et al 2020, Dorigo et al 2021, contributing considerably to the knowledge of its amphibian fauna. However, gaps of knowledge for areas at high altitudes still remain, not only for the state of Rio de Janeiro, but for the Atlantic Forest biome as a whole (Lima et al 2021).…”

Conhecer para Preservar: Percepção Ambiental de alunos do Ensino Fundamental II sobre o bioma Mata Atlântica e sua diversidade faunística

“…). O PNT, localizado na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, é reforçam que o PNT é um importante refúgio para as espécies e que o resultado amostral da pesquisa aponta um sucesso do programa de reflorestamento que vem acontecendo no local(DORIGO et al, 2021). Eu vi no meu clube um macaco...".…”