doctoralThesis
Estudos da comunidade de Squamata e de ecologia comportamental de Tropidurus Hispidus e T. Semitaeniatus (Squamata, Tropiduridae) em área de caatinga lato sensu
Fecha
2016-10-31Registro en:
KOLODIUK, Miguel Fernandes. Estudos da comunidade de Squamata e de ecologia comportamental de Tropidurus Hispidus e T. Semitaeniatus (Squamata, Tropiduridae) em área de caatinga lato sensu. 2016. 101f. Tese (Doutorado em Psicobiologia) - Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, 2016.
Autor
Kolodiuk, Miguel Fernandes
Resumen
The Caatinga occupies an area of approximately 800,000 km2, and is characterized by
rainfall scarcity, high temperatures, and variability in climatic seasonality, with strong
intercalation of dry and floody years. Among these phytophysiognomic and
morphoclimatic aspects, it is worth noting that this area has at least two landscapes known
in the literature: Caatinga stricto sensu and Caatinga lato sensu. The Caatinga stricto
sensu refers to areas located in the Northern Country Depression (Depressão Sertaneja
Setentrional), with shrubby vegetation and higher temperatures. On the other hand, the
Caatinga lato sensu comprises areas of arboreal-bushy vegetation located on the tops of
plateaus and mountains with more than 500 m altitude, thus presenting milder
temperatures. Classical studies highlight the existence of a pattern of relictual distribution
for some lizard species of the Caatingas, which seem to be unique from areas of Caatinga
lato sensu. Four 20-day trips were carried to the study area, two in 2014 and two in 2015,
in March (rainy season) and September (dry season). In 2014, Squamata specimens were
registered and/ or collected through active search and pitfall traps, and for each active
specimen, habitat, microhabitat and activity hour were recorded. In 2015, behavioral
observations of tropidurid lizards were carried out through focal sessions to analyze the
themoregulatory and foraging behaviors and compare them with populations of a
Caatinga stricto sensu area. A total of 34 species of Squamata was recorded, and the
rarefaction curve did not reach an asymptote, indicating the possibility of more species in
the area. Noteworthy is the presence of species with relictual distributions, such as
Acratosaura mentalis, Enyalius bibronii and Anotosaura vanzolinia. Comparing the
composition of the lizard species with other Caatinga sites, we observed the formation of
three groups: communities from forested highlands; from areas of Caatinga lato sensu,
and from areas of Caatinga stricto sensu. A null model analysis showed that the studied
lizard community is structured on the spatial niche axis, indicating a significant influence
of contemporary ecological factors on this assemblage. The non-random use of space by
the lizard species indicates the presence of competitive interactions that influence the
selection of habitats and microhabitats used. In general, the two Tropidurus species did
not differ in their thermoregulatory behavior, although T. semitaeniatus exposed yourself
to the sun more than T. hispidus during the rainy season. Regarding the foraging behavior,
T. hispidus and T. semitaeniatus behaved similarly in the dry season, changing strategy
during the rainy season. The two species foraged more actively during the rainy season
in the studied site when compared with an area of Caatinga stricto sensu. In conclusion,
the data obtained in this study confirm the presence of relictual species and the presence
of different behavioral strategies for tropidurid lizards in area of Caatinga lato sensu.