Composição e riqueza da herpetofauna no semiárido do município de Nordestina, no Nordeste do estado de Bahia, Brasil

Abstract

The herpetofauna of the Caatinga is still underestimated. A lack of knowledge of this group led the region to be perceived as having low species richness and endemism. This study aims to determine the species composition of the herpetofauna of the municipality of Nordestina. Data were collected using different techniques, such as pitfall traps and active searching. We used a bootstrap method to estimate the species richness of the local herpetofauna. We also calculated dominance and evenness indices. We recorded 3,969 specimens of 49 species. Snakes had the highest species richness, while lizards were more abundant. Anurans comprised 14 ± 0.8 species, with high evenness (J’ = 65.8%) and low dominance (D = 23.3%). The number of squamate species was the same as the amount observed (n = 36), and also had high evenness (J’ = 55.7%) and low dominance (D = 23.9%). In general, the studied area showed a pattern of evenness with low dominance, in addition to environmental stability, which is a characteristic of most conserved environments and leads us to stress the importance of this region to the maintenance of the biodiversity of the Caatinga biome.

Keywords

• amphibians
• caatinga
• conservation
• priority areas
• reptiles