Abstract
Abstract: Snakes are a diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates of the order Squamata. Despite that, in the Amazonian biome, information about distribution and identification of snakes is limited when compared to other groups. Additionally, in Amazonia there is a sampling bias towards areas geographically close to urban centers and more densely populated areas. This in turn leads to false distribution gaps in poorly accessible areas of Amazonia. In this article we report the composition of snake assemblages in six areas of the Brazilian Amazonia, based on field sampling conducted over four years using standardized methods. We sampled 70 species from eight families: Typhlopidae (n=1), Leptotyphlopidae (n=1), Anillidae (n=1), Boidae (n=5), Colubridae (n=15), Dipsadidae (n=35), Elapidae (n=7), and Viperidae (n=5). The largest number of species was recorded in the Trombetas River area and the lowest in the Jatapu River area. The total beta diversity was 0.40 and the snake assemblages were structured mainly by replacement (72.5%). The time-limited search was the method that recorded the greatest number of individuals in the studied areas (44.1%) and also the greatest number of species (n=40). However, some species were recorded only by other methods such as interception by pitfall traps with directional fences. Despite the large number of species sampled in the study, no particular area comprised more than 40% of species registered in all the areas, indicating that snakes are poorly detected even with large sampling effort across multiple areas of a species distribution.
Highlights
Snakes are a diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates of the order Squamata with approximately 3500 known species
The present study aims to increase the knowledge of distribution and beta diversity of snake assemblages in six unexplored areas of Amazonia
The local contribution to total beta diversity (LCBD) analysis showed that Jatapu River was the only area with a significant contribution for the overall beta diversity pattern (p = 0.012)
Summary
Snakes are a diverse group of terrestrial vertebrates of the order Squamata with approximately 3500 known species. The large number of rare, fossorial and semi-fossorial species, which are usually ignored or sub-sampled, is an aggravating factor for the reliable inference of patterns of distribution and abundance (Rocha et al 2005, Couto et al 2007). This scenario makes it difficult to study taxonomy and systematics, infer biogeographic patterns and direct conservation efforts. Some studies of Amazonian herpetofauna have been conducted in places far from urban centers (e.g. Frota et al 2005, Prudente & Santos-Costa 2005, Bernarde et al 2006, 2011, 2013, Turci et al 2008, França & Venancio 2010, Ferrão et al 2012, Pantoja & Fraga 2012, Santos-Costa 2015, Vaz-Silva et al 2015, Rodrigues et al 2016, França et al 2017, Fonseca et al 2019), for example there is a sampling bias in favor of densely populated areas as shown for plants (Nelson et al 1990)
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