Study of the relationship between roads, relief, land use, and natural vegetation in the Ibiuna Plateau - SP, focusing on landscape ecology

Roads facilitate access by deforestation agents, being relevant in studies approaching conservationist matters in rainforests. It is important to understand the relationship between road distribution, relief, land use, and forest coverage in order to evaluate where forests are more vulnerable. This study aimed at: 1) understanding the relationship between relief and density and road connectivity in three moments in time; and 2) evaluating the relationship between distance from roads and forest coverage, farmlands and rural and urban facilities in a fragmented Atlantic Forest landscape in three moments in time. Maps of roads, altitude, and land use and coverage were used. Chi-square tests showed that: 1) density and road connectivity did not present significant relationship with the relief; and 2) forest areas occupy areas distant from the roads, while farmlands and rural and urban facilities occupy areas nearer the roads. Roads and land use, regardless of relief, influence forest coverage distribution. Thus, we suggest that roads are taken into account in conservationist strategies and environmental planning.

Local richness and distribution of the lizard fauna in natural habitat mosaics of the Brazilian Cerrado

We investigate local lizard richness and distribution in central Brazilian Cerrado, harbouring one of the least studied herpetofaunas in the Neotropical region. Our results are based on standardized samplings at 10 localities, involving 2917 captures of 57 lizard species in 10 families. Local richness values exceeded most presented in earlier studies and varied from 13 to 28 species, with modal values between 19 and 28 species. Most of the Cerrado lizard fauna is composed of habitat-specialists with patchy distributions in the mosaic of grasslands, savannas and forests, resulting in habitat-structured lizard assemblages. Faunal overlap between open and forested habitats is limited, and forested and open areas may act as mutual barriers to lizard distribution. Habitat use is influenced by niche conservatism in deep lineages, with iguanians and gekkotans showing higher use of forested habitats, whereas autarchoglossans are richer and more abundant in open habitats. Contrary to trends observed in Cerrado birds and large mammals, lizard richness is significantly higher in open, interfluvial habitats that dominate the Cerrado landscape. Between-localities variation in lizard richness seems tied to geographical distance, landscape history and phylogenetic constraints, factors operating in other well-studied lizard faunas in open environments. Higher richness in dominant, open interfluvial habitats may be recurrent in Squamata and other small-bodied vertebrates, posing a threat to conservation as these habitats are most vulnerable to the fast, widespread and ongoing process of habitat destruction in central Brazil.

Reproductive ecology of dipsadine snakes, with emphasis on South American species

A relatively large amount of variation occurs in the reproductive ecology of tropical snakes, and this variation is generally regarded as being a consequence of seasonality in climate and prey availability. In some groups, even closely related species may differ in their reproductive ecology; however, in others it seems to be very conservative. Here we explore whether characters related to reproduction are phylogenetically constrained in a monophyletic group of snakes, the subfamily Dipsadinae, which ranges from Mexico to southern South America. We provide original data on reproduction for Leptodeira annulata, Imantodes cenchoa, and three species of Sibynomorphus from southern, southeastern and central Brazil, and data from literature for other species and populations of dipsadines. Follicular cycles were seasonal in Atractus reticulatus, Dipsa, albifrons, Hypsiglena torquata, Leptodeira maculata, L. punctata, Sibynomorphus spp. and Sibon sanniola from areas where climate is seasonal. In contrast, extended or continuous follicular cycles were recorded in Dipsas catesbyi, D. neivai, Imantodes cenchoa, Leptodeira annulata, and Ninia maculata from areas with seasonal and aseasonal climates. Testicular cycles also varied from seasonal (in H. torquiata) to continuous (in Dipsa,5 spp., Leptodeira annulata, L. maculata, N. maculata, and Sibynomorphus spp.). Most dipsadines are small (less than 500 rum SVL), and females attain sexual maturity with similar relative body size than males. Sexual dimorphism occurred in terms of SVL and tail length in most species, and clutch size tended to be small (less than five eggs). Combat behavior occurs in Imantodes cenchoa, which did not show sexual size dimorphism. Reproductive timing, for both females and males, varied among species but in general there were no differences between the tribes of Dipsadinae in most of the reproductive characteristics, such as mean body size, relative size at sexual maturity, sexual size and tail dimorphism, duration of vitellogenesis or egg-carrying in oviducts.

Permanent Genetic Resources added to Molecular Ecology Resources Database 1 May 2009-31 July 2009

This article documents the addition of 512 microsatellite marker loci and nine pairs of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) sequencing primers to the Molecular Ecology Resources Database. Loci were developed for the following species: Alcippe morrisonia morrisonia, Bashania fangiana, Bashania fargesii, Chaetodon vagabundus, Colletes floralis, Coluber constrictor flaviventris, Coptotermes gestroi, Crotophaga major, Cyprinella lutrensis, Danaus plexippus, Fagus grandifolia, Falco tinnunculus, Fletcherimyia fletcheri, Hydrilla verticillata, Laterallus jamaicensis coturniculus, Leavenworthia alabamica, Marmosops incanus, Miichthys miiuy, Nasua nasua, Noturus exilis, Odontesthes bonariensis, Quadrula fragosa, Pinctada maxima, Pseudaletia separata, Pseudoperonospora cubensis, Podocarpus elatus, Portunus trituberculatus, Rhagoletis cerasi, Rhinella schneideri, Sarracenia alata, Skeletonema marinoi, Sminthurus viridis, Syngnathus abaster, Uroteuthis (Photololigo) chinensis, Verticillium dahliae, Wasmannia auropunctata, and Zygochlamys patagonica. These loci were cross-tested on the following species: Chaetodon baronessa, Falco columbarius, Falco eleonorae, Falco naumanni, Falco peregrinus, Falco subbuteo, Didelphis aurita, Gracilinanus microtarsus, Marmosops paulensis, Monodelphis Americana, Odontesthes hatcheri, Podocarpus grayi, Podocarpus lawrencei, Podocarpus smithii, Portunus pelagicus, Syngnathus acus, Syngnathus typhle,Uroteuthis (Photololigo) edulis, Uroteuthis (Photololigo) duvauceli and Verticillium albo-atrum. This article also documents the addition of nine sequencing primer pairs and sixteen allele specific primers or probes for Oncorhynchus mykiss and Oncorhynchus tshawytscha; these primers and assays were cross-tested in both species.

Phylogeny and ecology determine morphological structure in a snake assemblage in the central Brazilian Cerrado

To investigate the role of ecological and historical factors in the organization of communities, we describe the ecomorphological structure of an assemblage of snakes (61 species in six families) in the Cerrado (a savanna-like grassland) of Distrito Federal, Brazil. These snakes vary in habits, with some being fossorial, cryptozoic, terrestrial, semi-aquatic, or arboreal. Periods of activity also vary. A multivariate analysis identified distinct morphological groups associated with patterns of resource use. We report higher niche diversification compared to snakes in the Caatinga (a semi-arid region in northeastern Brazil), with fossorial and cryptozoic species occupying morphological space that is not occupied in the Caatinga. Monte Carlo permutations from canonical phylogenetic ordination revealed a significant phylogenetic effect on morphology for Colubridae, Colubrinae, Viperidae, Elapidae, and Boidae indicating that morphological divergence occurred in the distant past. We conclude that phylogeny is the most important factor determining structure of this Neotropical assemblage. Nevertheless, our results also suggest a strong ecological component characterizes a peculiar snake fauna.