Oecologia Australis 21(4): 431-443, 2017 10.4257/oeco.2017.2104.07 LIZARDS AND AMPHISBAENIANS OF CATAGUASES, MINAS GERAIS, SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL Jhonny José Magalhães Guedes1*, Clodoaldo Lopes de Assis1, Renato Neves Feio1 & Henrique C. Costa² 1Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), Departamento de Biologia Animal, Museu de Zoologia João Moojen. Viçosa, MG, Brasil. CEP: 36570-900 2Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia. Belo Horizonte, MG, Brasil. CEP: 31270-901 E-mails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] ABSTRACT The ‘Zona da Mata’ of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil, has less than 10% of remaining native vegetation and is home of a rich herpetofauna, still poorly surveyed. We present the results of an assessment of lizard and amphisbaenian species at Atlantic Forest fragments in the municipality of Cataguases, state of Minas Gerais, from 2009 to 2013. We used pitfall traps, occasional encounters, and local collectors, besides a literature review of records from Cataguases and neighboring cities. A total of 15 species in 12 families were found, three of them endemic to the Atlantic Forest (Ecpleopus gaudichaudi, Enyalius boulengeri, and Gymnodactylus darwinii). We also present a dichotomous key for identification of lizards and amphisbaenians of Cataguases. Keywords: Atlantic Forest; inventory; reptiles; Squamata; Zona da Mata. INTRODUCTION (Cardoso et al. 2001), and eucalyptus plantations nowadays (JJMG pers. obs.). Today, about 6,100 lizards and 200 Herpetological assessments are recent in the amphisbaenian species are known worldwide, ‘Zona da Mata’ (e.g., Costa et al. 2009, 2010, comprising 60% of all extant reptiles (Uetz & Hosek Moura et al. 2012, Sousa et al. 2012), and have 2016). In Brazil, about 340 species of lizards and revealed high species richness and even new taxa amphisbaenians have been described so far (Costa (e.g., Lacerda et al. 2012, Santana et al. 2012, Assis & Bérnils 2015). Most Brazilian species of lizards et al. 2013, Costa et al. 2016, Guimarães et al. and amphisbaenians occur in Amazonia (Rodrigues 2017). Besides increasing the knowledge of 2005), but the Atlantic Forest stands out as a biodiversity, inventories are fundamental for biodiversity hotspot (Mittermeier et al. 2005), with conservation plans (Haddad 1998) and provide a set 30% of endemism among its reptilian species of valuable information for ecology (Droege et al. (Mittermeier et al. 2011). The Atlantic Forest has 1998) and macroecology (Moura et al. 2016). In suffered intense reduction of its original area since this sense, we present a checklist and an Europeans arrived at the Brazilian coast in the 16th identification key of lizards and amphisbaenians of century, and is now reduced to 12% of its original Cataguases, Atlantic Forest of eastern Minas Gerais, cover (Ribeiro et al. 2011), of which only 1.6% are Brazil, after a five-year assessment. protected (Ribeiro et al. 2009). The ‘Zona da Mata/Viçosa’, in southeastern MATERIAL AND METHODS Brazil, is one of the 55 subdivisions of the Atlantic Forest, and is characterized by the presence of Study site semidecidual forests, mean elevation of 530 m, and only 9.9% of remaining forest cover (Ribeiro et al. The municipality of Cataguases (21°22’31” 2011). The region was intensively explored for S, 42°41’08” W, WGS84) is located in the ‘Zona da timber, charcoal production and agricultural Mata’ region, eastern Minas Gerais, southeastern activities – mainly coffee farms – in the past Brazil. It has a total area of 491.7 km², with 432 Guedes et al. elevations from 170 to 1,200 meters. The area is drained distinct areas: Serra do Sapecado/Serra da Neblina, by the Pomba river sub-basin, part of the Paraíba do Sinimbú, and Estação Ecológica de Água Limpa (Table Sul river basin (Figure 1). Climate is tropical wet and 1 and Figure 2). They are among the largest forest dry, classified as type Aw in Köppen’s system, with mean fragments in the region, the latter being the only area annual temperature varying between 22 and 24°C, mean protected by law in Cataguases, with 70 ha (Minas annual precipitation around 1,300 and 1,600 mm (Alvares Gerais 1994; http://www.wdpa.org/). Also, the three et al. 2014), with a rainy season from October to April areas differ in elevation gradient (Table 1), which could and a dry season from May to September (Sá Júnior et result in the presence of distinct habitats among studied al. 2012). The region is part of the Atlantic Forest biome sites (Veloso et al. 1991). Each trap array was 50 m (sensu IBGE 2004), and originally covered by montane long, made of six buckets buried in the ground and set and submontane seasonal semideciduous forests (Veloso at 10-m intervals, connected by a 50-cm tall drift fence et al. 1991). Currently, the municipality has 9% of forest of plastic canvas (Table 1). remnants (SOS Mata Atlântica & INPE 2016), most of Occasional encounters occurred during pitfall which located in hilltops, while lowlands were mostly traps surveys. We also considered specimens recorded converted into pastures. by local people and environmental police, herein referred as ‘local collectors’. Voucher specimens (collected Data collection under permits from the Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade-ICMBio 10504-1, We collected data from 2009 to 2013, using 26008-1, 26008-2, 26008-4, and the Instituto Estadual three different methods for species record: pitfall traps, de Florestas-IEF 102/08, 073/11) were deposited in the occasional encounters, and local collectors (Fitzgerald herpetological collection of the Museu de Zoologia João 2012). We installed linear pitfall trap arrays (Ribeiro- Moojen, Universidade Federal de Viçosa (MZUFV), Júnior et al. 2011) in forest fragments from three Viçosa, Minas Gerais (Appendix 1). Figure 1. Map of Cataguases and neighbor municipalities, with forest remnants shown in green. The inset map shows the state of Minas Gerais in grey, with a small white square indicating the location of the municipality of Cataguases, Brazil. Oecol. Aust., 21(4): 431-443, 2017 Lizards and Amphisbaenians of Cataguases 433 Figure 2. Localities sampled with pitfall traps in the municipality of Cataguases, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. a) Estação Ecológica de Água Limpa; b) Serrado do Sapecado/Serra da Neblina; c) Sinimbú; d) Linear pitfall trap array. Table 1. Detailed information about pitfall trap method used in three areas in the municipality of Cataguases, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Method details/Area of study Serra do Sapecado/Neblina Sinimbú Estação Ecológica de Água Limpa Coordinates 21º13'19" S, 42º44'39" W 21°20'19" S, 42º45'46" W 21º22'27" S, 42º43'04" W Altitudinal range (meters) 426 to 910 263 to 353 240 to 330 Nº of trap lines 5 6 5 Nº of buckets 30 36 30 Bucket capacity (liters) 65 65 100 Sampling period Dec/2012 to Nov/2013 Feb/2011 to Apr/2012 Sep/2011 to Nov/2011 Nº of sampled months 12 15 3 Nº of sampled days per month 5 7 5 Total sampled days 60 105 15 Bucket/day effort 1800 3780 450 Oecol. Aust., 21(4): 431-443, 2017 434 Guedes et al. We also searched for records from Cataguases Hemidactylus mabouia) were not quantified due to and neighboring municipalities (Dona Eusébia, the high abundance at urban areas; local collectors Guidoval, Itamarati de Minas, Laranjal, Leopoldina, recorded 16 specimens from 10 species; and 3 species Miraí, and Santana de Cataguases) in the literature were recorded in the literature. Dactyloa punctata and the MZUFV collection. We based our species and Aspronema dorsivittatum were only recorded by identification in the works of Peters & Donoso- pitfall traps, T. torquatus only by occasional Barros (1970), Gans (1971), Jackson (1978), Vanzolini encounters, Polychrus marmoratus, Psychosaura (1978, 2002), Vanzolini et al. (1980), Rodrigues (1987), macrorhyncha and I. iguana were exclusively Ávila- Pires (1995), Borges-Martins (1998), recorded by local collectors, and Leposternon Rodrigues et al. (2006), Harvey et al. (2008), Hedges infraorbitale and Enyalius bilineatus only by & Conn (2012), Cacciali & Scott (2015), and Ribeiro literature records. et al. (2015). Information from those works was also The rarefaction curve based on pitfall trapping gathered to produce a species identification key did not reach the asymptote (Figure 5). Estimated following the style presented by Costa et al. (2009) richness based on pitfall trap is 10.98 (±1.71) species (Appendix 2). We also used specimens at the for Jackknife 1 and 9.49 (±2.58) species for Chao2. herpetological collection of MZUFV for comparisons. We follow the same nomenclature adopted by Costa DISCUSSION & Bérnils (2015). The lizard and amphisbaenian species richness Data analysis of Cataguases represents 16% of the known diversity of these groups in the state of Minas Gerais To evaluate the effectiveness of our sampling (H. C. Costa, unpublished data). Most species have effort through pitfall trapping (the only method used wide geographical ranges and are commonly found with a measurable sampling effort), we built a sample in habitats with human interference like forests based rarefaction curve (Gotelli & Colwell 2001) with patches in urban areas (e.g., Costa et al. 2009, 1,000 randomizations, using the richness estimators Moura et al. 2012, Sousa et al. 2012, Cruz et al. Jackknife 1 and Chao 2, with a respective 95% 2014). Only three species (Ecpleopus confidence interval. This analysis was made in the gaudichaudii, Enyalius boulengeri, and software EstimateS 9.1 (Colwell 2013). Gymnodactylus darwinii, 20% of observed richness) are considered endemic to the Atlantic RESULTS Forest. The occurrence of few endemic species seems to be a common pattern in lizard assemblages We recorded a total of 75 specimens from 15 in southeastern Atlantic Forest (e.g., Moura et al. species (13 lizards and two amphisbaenians) in 12 2012, Santos 2013, Cruz et al.