Lizards and snakes of Refúgio de Vida Silvestre Matas do Siriji, an Atlantic Forest hotspot of the Pernambuco Endemism Center, Northeastern Brazil

José Henrique De Andrade Lima,Erica Suzan Martins Lima,Ednilza Maranhão Dos Santos,Marcelo Nogueira De Carvalho Kokubum,Flávio José Silva,Rafael Dioni Leandro Costa,Emerson Gonçalves Dias

doi:10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2020-1106

Abstract

Abstract: The Atlantic Forest north of the São Francisco River, known as the Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC), comprises small, poorly-known and, consequently, highly threatened forest remnants, such as Refúgio de Vida Silvestre (RVS) Matas do Siriji, a montane forest located in the municipality of São Vicente Férrer, state of Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil. We provide the results of the first inventory of the squamate fauna of the region with comments on the conservation status of some species, comparisons with other locations in Northeast Brazil and a brief discussion of biogeography. Time-constrained transects, pit-fall traps, occasional encounters and third-party records registered 18 lizard species and 25 snake species, with the rarefaction curve of the former tending to stability. The RVS Matas do Siriji possesses 39.81 % of the lizard and snake species known for the state of de Pernambuco, being the third richest area in species in the State, with a composition similar to that of other areas within PEC. Based on the lists of SEMAS, ICMBio and IUCN, some of the registered species are considered vulnerable to extinction while others have yet to be evaluated. The RVS Matas do Siriji includes a rich, threatened and underestimated fauna of squamate reptiles, indicating that more restrictive protection measures must be adopted in this Conservation Unit.

Highlights

Centuries of successive economic cycles and constant occupation of Atlantic Forest environments has seriously compromised the ecological balance of the unique ecosystems of the domain (Silva & Casteleti 2005)
Northeast Brazil has the lowest coverage of remaining of Atlantic Forest and the lowest amount of protected areas (Lobo-Araújo et al 2013, Vale et al 2018), even though it has great biological importance due to high endemism, especially north of the São Francisco River
Among the biogeographic subunits that make up the Northeastern Atlantic Forest is the Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC) (Rizzini 1997, Cavalcanti & Tabarelli 2004), a region that extends from the state of Alagoas to the state of Rio Grande do Norte (Prance 1982, Santos et al 2007)

Summary

Introduction

Centuries of successive economic cycles and constant occupation of Atlantic Forest environments has seriously compromised the ecological balance of the unique ecosystems of the domain (Silva & Casteleti 2005). Northeast Brazil has the lowest coverage of remaining of Atlantic Forest and the lowest amount of protected areas (Lobo-Araújo et al 2013, Vale et al 2018), even though it has great biological importance due to high endemism, especially north of the São Francisco River. The region possesses high endemism, with emphasis on plants (Prance 1982, Santos et al 2007), butterflies (Brown 1979, Tyler et al 1994) and birds (Silva et al 2004, Lobo-Araújo et al 2013, Vale et al 2018), and is considered to have been an important refuge for Atlantic Forest species north of the São Francisco River during Quaternary climate changes (see Carnaval et al 2009, Porto et al 2013, Costa et al 2017)

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