Abstract
Abstract Quantitative and qualitative alterations in the environment may have serious ecological consequences for populations of native species. Isolated forest fragments, such as those surrounded by highly urbanized areas, may function similarly to oceanic islands with differences in species diversity compared to mainland areas. These differences may include changes in prey availability and predator pressure, with consequent effects on growth and size of species that interact with those prey and predators. Here, we investigate body size, prey availability, and predation pressure in populations of Bothrops jararaca in two forest fragments within an urban environment in southeastern Brazil (a completely isolated, small forest fragment and a large, well-connected forest fragment). While we found no differences in mean body size or stoutness between the two populations, we did find larger specimens in the small isolated fragment. Prey availability and predator pressure also were significantly lower in the sm...
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