Herpetofauna of the Elemento Natural Destacado Dunas de Playa Pilar, Ciego de Ávila, Cuba

Abstract

A mphibians and terrestrial reptiles are good indicators of ecosystem health due to territoriality and their sensitivity to local changes such as habitat fragmentation (Zug et al. 2001). The Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago of Cuba is home to a wide variety of amphibians and reptiles (e.g., Garrido 1973; Estrada 2012), but it also is a territory with extensive development for tourism. Of particular interest are areas that have not been extensively studied; for example, Cayo Guillermo was not included in some surveys of the archipelago (e.g., Rivalta .The Elemento Natural Destacado Dunas de Playa Pilar (Fig. 1), designated as a protected area in 2019 as a 35-ha extension of the Buenavista Protected Area of Managed Resources, is at the western end of Cayo Guillermo (31.30°N, 73.70°W) (Zulueta-Villaurrutia et al. 2021). Mean annual temperature is 26.5 °C, mean annual humidity is 79%, and annual rainfall of 990-1,200 mm varies seasonally with a dry season that extends from November through April. Three vegetative formations (Capote and Berazaín 1984), sandy coastal vegetation complex, sandy coastal scrub, and swamp forest, where Red Mangrove (Rizophora mangle) is dominant, are present (Zulueta-Villaurrutia et al. 2021). Estrada (2012) listed 13 species of reptiles plus one questionable record, Rodríguez Schettino et al. (2013) listed 13 Herpetofauna of the Elemento Natural