Diversidade da fauna de Squamata em fragmentos florestais urbanos de Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Abstract

The most amount of the remaining forest in southeastern Brazil is in forest fragments, so the interest of the scientific community to study and analyze the consequences on the biodiversity. The purpose of this study was, wherefore, to assess the diversity of herpetofauna in urban fragments of Atlantic Forest in Juiz de Fora, in southeastern Brazil and if certain characteristics of the environment might influence this diversity. A sampling of reptiles in the field occurred between September 2008 and April 2009 by time constrained search and collected through pitfall traps with drift fence and funnel traps. The area with highest species richness was the Fazenda Floresta, followed by ReBio Poço D'Anta, and then the PM Lajinha and the ReBio Santa Cândida. The evenness of Fazenda Floresta was higher than other areas. The diversity varied significantly among all areas, except between the PM Lajinha and the ReBio Santa Cândida. Diversity also varied significantly among the border, intermediate and central areas, and the intermediate area was that got the highest diversity, this is mainly due the overlap of species of forest and open areas. The humidity and temperature did not vary among areas of the fragments. The intensity of light and intensity of winds also did not vary among areas of the fragments, but varied among areas of the fragment compared to the matrix. Biotic variables probably better predict the richness that the abiotic variables. There is a trend in which richness, abundance and evenness of species decrease with increasing the degree of disturbance of the environment. Small areas, such as urban fragments in Juiz de Fora, can to shelter representatives of Squamata, but conserved areas still are critical to conservation because they are less susceptible to disruption constant. The herpetofauna can be considered an indicator of environmental change on a large scale of the integrity of a habitat.