Diversity and seasonal dynamic of a lizard assemblage in a Neotropical semiarid habitat

作者：Passos Daniel Cunha^*; Mattos Dourado Mesquita Paulo Cesar; Borges Nojosa Diva Maria

来源：Studies on Neotropical Fauna and Environment, 2016, 51(1): 19-28.

DOI：10.1080/01650521.2016.1149383

• Community ecology
• seasonally dry tropical forest
• Squamata

We assessed the lizard assemblage from a priority conservation Caatinga area from northeastern Brazil, through a pluriannual ecological approach, to expand the understanding on biodiversity patterns of Neotropical semiarid habitats. The studied area presented one of the richest lizard faunas among Caatinga sites, being composed primarily by species typical from open landscapes. The local species composition was more similar to assemblages from adjacent Caatinga ecoregions than to those from other areas within the same ecoregion. The inventoried lizard assemblage consisted of a few common species and a majority of low abundance ones, and its overall richness and abundance did not differ between rainy and dry months. Our findings demonstrated that the composition of lizard assemblages did not match with the current proposed Caatinga ecoregions, and revealed that the studied assemblage followed a lognormal species- abundance distribution, showing no significant seasonal fluctuation in richness and abundance.

• 出版日期2016-4