Abstract
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.
Highlights
The Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al 2000), it has been reduced to only around 12% of its original cover as a result of centuries of intense deforestation (Ribeiro et al 2011, SOS Mata Atlântica, INPE 2018)
We calculated rarefaction curves and confidence intervals (95%) with the moment-based estimator of species richness (Colwell et al 2004) to verify the efficiency of the sampling effort in terms of the number of species recorded during the study for both amphibians and reptiles
The results of the present study indicate that the forests of the Parque Nacional da Tijuca (PNT) harbor for a large proportion of the herpetofaunal diversity of the Atlantic Forest of the state of Rio de Janeiro
Summary
The Brazilian Atlantic Forest biome is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al 2000), it has been reduced to only around 12% of its original cover as a result of centuries of intense deforestation (Ribeiro et al 2011, SOS Mata Atlântica, INPE 2018). The deforested areas once covered by plantations were almost completely reconstituted by a reforestation project – the first major project of its kind anywhere in the world – which involved the planting of 100,000 trees, beginning in the second half of the 19th century during the Brazilian Empire period. This initiative resulted in the establishment of an exuberant forest, which was converted into a national park in 1961 (Brasil 1961)
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