title: Habitat structural effect on squamata fauna of the restinga ecosystem in northeastern Brazil.
abstract: In this work, we surveyed data on richness and composition of squamatan reptiles and habitat structural effect in nine areas of restinga ecosystem in the State of Bahia, northeastern Brazil. The "restinga" ecosystems are coastal sand dune habitats on the coast of Brazil. Our main hypothesis is that the Squamata fauna composition along these restinga areas would be modulated by habitat structural. After 90 days of field sampling we recorded approximately 5% of reptile species known in Brazil. The composition of Squamata assemblages varied mainly based on the presence or absence of lizards of the genera Ameivula and Tropidurus. Our data showed that habitat structure consistently affected the composition of local Squamata fauna, especially lizards.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Biologia e Ecologia de Vertebrados (LABEV), Departamento de Biociencias, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Itabaiana, SE, Brasil.
authors.forename: Eduardo J R
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Dias
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcantara Gomes, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Carlos F D
authors.initials: CF
authors.lastname: Rocha
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D017753:Ecosystem; D008116:Lizards / Q000145:classification*; D011156:Population Density