Serpentes de um fragmento urbano de Mata Atlântica: sobrevivendo ao concreto

Abstract

Although researches on richness, composition and conservation of Atlantic rainforest’s herpetofauna have focused on large and protected areas, small fragments subject to human interference are important to maintain α-diversity, as they often constitute the only relictual areas with favorable habitats for those species within the cities. In this paper, we report the richness and composition of snakes from a small urbanized area in the Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), in the city of Salvador, state of Bahia, focusing on its conservation. We also propose hypotheses to explain the mechanisms that would facilitate the coexistence of these species, even in the face of an intense fragmentation process. The list of species here presented was based on the registers from the Museu de Zoologia of UFBA and the register book of the “Núcleo Regional de Ofiologia e Animais Peçonhentos da Bahia” (1987–2012). Based on the literature, each taxon was characterized with respect to habitat use, substrate, activity patterns and food habits. Nine species, belonging to the families Boidae (Boa constrictor) and Colubridae (Helicops leopardinus, Liophis almadensis, L. miliaris, L. taeniogaster, Oxyrhopus trigeminus, Philodryas olfersii, Sibynomorphus neuwiedi and Tantilla melanocephala), were registered. A comparative analysis of data from habitat and activity patterns of the species studied suggests that the coexistence of nine taxa in such fragment may be related to different combinations of substrate use and diet. Liophis almadensis (jararaquinha-false) and B. constrictor (python) showed higher relative abundance and were the only species recorded from 2010–2012, suggesting that part of the herpetofauna reported over the last 14 years may be locally extinct. This observation is even more critical because this period coincides with the suppression of almost all remaining fragments of Atlantic forest in the study area for university modernization and expansion.Additional key words: Bahia, conservation, local extinction, snakes, UFBA.