Reserva Imbassaí Restinga: inventory of snakes on the northern coast of Bahia, Brazil

Restinga is a coastal ecosystem covering almost the entire Brazilian coast line and it is associated with the Atlantic Forest biome and therefore is a complementary component of the landscape. Its vegetation is highly variable and specialized, being influenced by salt, and with low fertility and moist soil. This environmental landscape promotes the colonization of species from contiguous biomes and ecosystems, thereby promoting high diversity, especially on the northern coast of Bahia. The study was conducted at the Reserva Imbassaí, in the municipality of Mata de São João, northern coast of Bahia, Brazil. We conducted six surveys distributed over one year, with samples every two months; we used the sampling techniques of active visual search, random encounters and pitfall traps along a linear transect. Fourty-nine snakes from 15 species distributed among five families were recorded: Boidae (2), Colubridae (3), Dipsadidae (6), Elapidae (1) and Viperidae (3). Ten of the species of snakes found at Reserva Imbassaí complement the literature overall snakes’ list from the north coast of Bahia’s restinga. The results show that Reserva Imbassaí is uniquely rich in snakes and therefore represents an important contribution to the knowledge of this taxon within the Atlantic forest hotspot

Restinga lizards (Reptilia: Squamata) at the Imbassaí Preserve on the northern coast of Bahia, Brazil

This study presents the diversity of lizard species at the Imbassaí Preserve, located in the Mata de São João municipality, on the northern coast of Bahia region, Brazil, with special attention to the threatened and endemic species. We present the main results on richness and abundance, from a long term monitoring program and especially from the period between November 2008 and June 2010. We applied the visual search method associated with pitfall traps and random encounters, on a 200m linear transect, in four different vegetation habitats. We detected 26 lizard species, distributed in 19 genera of 10 families. The study reveals a high diversity area for lizards, within the restinga ecosystem along the northern coast line, and therefore contributes to the knowledge of the herpetofauna on the northern coast of the Bahia region, as well as to future management and monitoring programs