Skip to main content

Advertisement

Springer Nature Link
Log in

Species composition, abundance and diet of a squamate assemblage from the Carnaval stream headwaters (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

  • Published:
Urban Ecosystems Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The present work summarizes 10 years of field observations of an exurban squamate assemblage occupying a 1200 ha patch in the suburbs of La Plata City (Los Porteños, Buenos Aires, Argentina). Crossed by two streams (Martin and Carnaval), the area is characterized by intensive horticulture and floriculture, poultry and pig farming, exhibits a low housing density (1 house/ha), and the roads are largely unpaved. This area is under stress due to continuous expansion of the neighboring city in detriment of rural areas, determining a stressing environmental scenario. Field data were complemented and contextualized with museum records of the squamates present in the area and in neighboring departments of La Plata. The field-based species list of squamates from Los Porteños comprises one amphisbaenian (Amphisbaena darwinii = 26 specimens), five snakes (Paraphimophis rustica = 24, Xenodon dorbignyi = 6, Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus = 3, Erythrolamprus semiaureus = 2, Lygophis anomalus = 1), and one lizard (Salvator merianae = 11). The number of species of squamates in Los Porteños was higher than the expected compared with the species from surrounding areas. Fossorial, nocturnal and generalist species were the most abundant in Los Porteños. These urban adapter species lack dietary constraints and their living habits minimize the encounters with humans, who commonly kill them.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+
from $39.99 /Month
  • Starting from 10 chapters or articles per month
  • Access and download chapters and articles from more than 300k books and 2,500 journals
  • Cancel anytime
View plans

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Explore related subjects

Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.

References

  • Abdala CS, Acosta JL, Acosta JC, Álvarez BB, Arías F, Avila LJ, Blanco GM, Bonino M, Boretto JM, Brancatelli M, Breitman MF, Cabrera MR, Cairo S, Corbalán V, Hernando A, Nr I, Kacoliris F, Laspiur A, Montero R, Morando M, Pelegrin N, Pérez CF, Quinteros AS, Semhan RV, Tedesco ME, Vega L, Zalba SM (2012) Categorización del estado de conservación de las lagartijas y anfisbenas de la República Argentina. Cuad Herpetol 26:215–247

    Google Scholar 

  • Alencar LRV, Nascimento LB (2014) Natural history data of a common snake suggest interpopulational variation and conservatism in life history traits: the case of Erythrolamprus poecilogyrus. Herpetol J 24:79–85

    Google Scholar 

  • Alencar LRV, Gaiarsa MP, Martins M (2013) The evolution of diet and microhabitat use in Pseudoboine snakes. South American J Herpetology 8:60–66. https://doi.org/10.2994/SAJH-D-13-00005.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews KM, Gibbons JW, Jochimsen DM (2008) Ecological effects of roads on amphibians and reptiles: a literature review. Herpetological Conservation 3:121–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Arzamendia V, Giraudo AR, Bellini GP (2015) Relaciones biogeográficas de los grandes ríos de la cuenca del Plata basadas en ensambles de serpientes. Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad 86:674–684. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rmb.2015.06.006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Avila LJ, Pérez CHF, Minoli I, Morando M (2012) A new species of Homonota (Reptilia: Squamata: Gekkota: Phyllodactylidae) from the Ventania mountain range, southeastern pampas, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. Zootaxa 3431:19–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barbo FE, Sawaya RJ (2008) Amphisbaenians, municipality of São Paulo, state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. Check List 4:5–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bateman PW, Fleming PA (2012) Big city life: carnivores in urban environments. J Zool 287:1–23. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.2011.00887.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blair RB (2001) Birds and butterflies along urban gradients in two ecoregions of the United States: is urbanization creating a homogeneous fauna? In: Lockwood JL, Mckinney ML (eds) Biotic homogenization. Kluwer Academic Publishers, New York, pp 33–56. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1261-5_3

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Burkart R, Bárbaro NO, Sánchez RO, Gómez DA (1999) Eco-regiones de la Argentina. Administración de Parques Nacionales y Secretaria de Recursos Naturales y Desarrollo Sustentable, Bs. As., 43 pp.

  • Cabrera MR, Merlini HO (1990) The diet of Amphisbaena darwinii heterozonata in Argentina. Herpetological Review 21:53

    Google Scholar 

  • Cacciali P, Motte M (2010) Hábitos predatorios de Liophis poecilogyrus schotti (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) sobre anfibios de la familia Microhylidae. Reportes Científicos de la FACEN 1:58–59

    Google Scholar 

  • Cei JM (1986) Reptiles del centro, centro-oeste y sur de la Argentina. Herpetofauna de las zonas áridas y semiáridas. Museo Regionale di Sciencie Naturali. Torino, Monografie IV:1–527

  • Figueiredo de Andrade CA, Kindlovits GM (2012) Predation on an egg clutch of Phyllomedusa rohdei Mertens, 1926 by the water snake Liophis miliaris (Linnaeus, 1758). Herpetology Notes 5:259–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Frediani J (2013) La problemática del hábitat informal en áreas periurbanas del Partido de La Plata. Revista Universitaria de Geografía 22:43–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallardo JM (1967) Saurios Argentinos. I. Observaciones sobre Amphisbaena darwini heterozonata Burmeister en los alrededores de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ciencia e Investigación 23:406–411

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallardo JM (1968) Dos nuevas especies de Iguanidae (Sauria) de la República Argentina. Neotropica 14:1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallardo JM (1977) Reptiles de los alrededores de Buenos Aires. EUDEBA, Buenos Aires, 213 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaul RW Jr (2008) Ecological observations of the northern Brownsnake (Storeria dekayi) in an urban environment in North Carolina, USA. Herpetological Conservation 3:361–364

    Google Scholar 

  • Giraudo AR, Duré M, Schaefer E, Lezcano JN, Etchepare EG, Akmentis MS, Natale GS, Arzamendia V, Bellini GP, Ghirardi R, Bonino M (2012) Revisión de la metodología utilizada para categorizar especies amenazadas de la herpetofauna Argentina. Cuad Herpetol 26:117–130

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant BW, Middendorf G, Colgan MJ, Ahmad H, Vogel MB (2011) Ecology of urban amphibians and reptiles: Urbanophiles, Urbanophobes, and the Urbanoblivious. In: Niemelä J, Breuste JH, Elmqvist T, Guntenspergen G, James P, McIntyre NE (eds) Urban ecology: patterns, processes, and applications. Oxford U. Press, NY, pp 167–178

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • INDEC (2016) http://www.indec.mecon.ar

  • Kasperoviczus KN, Krüger AC, Marques OAV (2015) An elongated meal: the tegu lizard Salvator merianae eats snakes and amphisbaenians. Herpetology Notes 8:21–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiefer MC, Sazima I (2002) Diet of juvenile tegu lizard Tupinambis merianae (Teiidae) in southeastern Brazil. Amphibia-Reptilia 23:105–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Koslowsky J (1895) Reptiles y batracios de la Sierra de la Ventana (Provincia de Buenos Aires). Revista del Museo de La Plata 7:151–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Marques OAV, Castro Souza V (1993) Nota sobre a atividade alimentar de Liophis miliaris no ambiente marinho (Serpentes, Colubridae). Rev Bras Biol 53:645–648

    Google Scholar 

  • McKinney ML (2006) Urbanization as a major cause of biotic homogenization. Biol Conserv 127:247–260

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell JC, Jung Brown RE (2008) Urban herpetology: global overview, synthesis, and future directions. Herpetological Conservation 3:1–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Oliveira RB, Di Bernardo M, Pontes GMF, Maciel AP, Krause L (2001) Dieta e comportamento alimentar da cobra-nariguda, Lystrophis dorbignyi (Duméril & Duméril, 1854), no Litoral Norte do Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil. Cuad Herpetol 14:117–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmuti CFS, Cassimiro J, Bertoluci J (2009) Food habits of snakes from the RPPN Feliciano Miguel Abdala, an Atlantic Forest fragment of southeastern Brazil. Biota Neotropica 9:263–269

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Panzera A, Maneyro R (2014) Feeding biology of Lygophis anomalus (Dipsadidae, Xenodontinae). South American J Herpetology 9:75–82. https://doi.org/10.2994/SAJH-D-13-00030.1

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry G, Buchanan BW, Fisher RN, Salmon M, Wise SE (2008) Effects of artificial night lighting on amphibians and reptiles in urban environments. Herpetological Conservation 3:239–258

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinto RR, Fernandes R (2004) Reproductive biology and diet of Liophis poecilogyrus poecilogyrus (Serpentes, Colubridae) from southeastern Brazil. Phyllomedusa. 3:9–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pizzato L (2005) Body size, reproductive biology and abundance of the rare Pseudoboini snakes genera Clelia and Boiruna (Serpentes, Colubridae) in Brazil. Phyllomedusa 4:111-122. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2316-9079.v4i2p111-122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prieto YA, Giraudo AR, López MS (2012) Diet and sexual dimorphism of Liophis poecilogyrus (Serpentes, Dipsadidae) from the wetland regions of Northeast Argentina. J Herpetol 46:402–406. https://doi.org/10.1670/10-228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ringuelet RA, Aramburu RH (1955) Enumeración sistemática de los vertebrados de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (La Plata). Ministerio de Asuntos Agrarios N° 119, 94 pp.

  • Rugiero L (2004) Composition of the reptile communities in five urban protected areas of different isolation degrees. Herpetozoa 16:151–155

    Google Scholar 

  • Saibene PE, Cajade R, Pagano LG, Herrera R (2012) Reptiles de la Reserva Natural Punta Lara. In: Roesler I, Agostini MG (eds). Inventario de los vertebrados de la Reserva Natural Punta Lara, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Temas de Naturaleza y Conservación, Monografía de Aves argentinas No 8, Buenos Aires, pp 83-96

  • Sazima I, D’Angelo GB (2013) Range of animal food types recorded for the tegu lizard (Salvator merianae) at an urban park in South-Eastern Brazil. Herpetology Notes 6:427–430

    Google Scholar 

  • Theobald DM (2005) Landscape patterns of exurban growth in the USA from 1980 to 2020. Ecol Soc 10:32

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tozzeti AM, Oliveira RB, Pontes GMF (2009) Defensive repertoire of Xenodon dorbignyi (Serpentes, Dipsadidae). Biota Neotropica 9:157–163. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1676-06032009000300016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams JD, Kacoliris FP (2009) Anfibios y Reptiles del Parque Costero del Sur (Buenos Aires). In: Athor J (ed) Parque Costero del Sur. Naturaleza, conservación y patrimonio cultural. Fundación de Historia Natural Félix de Azara, Buenos Aires, pp 247-261

  • Williams JD, Scrocchi GJ (1994) Ofidios de agua dulce de la República Argentina. In: de Castellanos ZA (ed) Fauna de agua dulce de la República Argentina Volumen 42 (Reptilia) - Fascículo 3 (Ophidia Lepidosauria), 55 pp.

  • Zappalorti RT, Mitchell JC (2008) Snake use of urban habitats in the New Jersey pine barrens. Herpetological Conservation 3:355–360

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

A special thanks to all people who kindly contributed specimens they found within the area. Sampy Nenda (Idolo) and Jorge Daniel Williams (Gales) generously assisted us during visits to the herpetological collections of Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales and Museo de La Plata. L. Alcalde, R. M. Sánchez and M. J. Cassano acknowledge Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) for continuous support. A.B. Tenorio acknowledges Universidad Nacional de La Plata (UNLP) for an internship during 2015. The present paper is the Scientific Contribution N° 988 of Instituto de Limnología “Dr. Raúl A. Ringuelet” (CONICET-UNLP). The last two years of our work were funded by PICT-2015-1342 and PI-UE (CONICET) 22920160100049CO2015.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Limnología Dr. R.A. Ringuelet, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Boulevard 120 y 62, CP 1900, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Leandro Alcalde, María Julia Cassano & Rocío María Sánchez

  2. Museo de La Plata, Anexo Laboratorios, Sección Herpetología, Boulevard 120 y 62, CP 1900, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Ana Belén Tenorio

Authors
  1. Leandro Alcalde
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. María Julia Cassano
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Rocío María Sánchez
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Ana Belén Tenorio
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Leandro Alcalde.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Alcalde, L., Cassano, M.J., Sánchez, R.M. et al. Species composition, abundance and diet of a squamate assemblage from the Carnaval stream headwaters (Buenos Aires, Argentina). Urban Ecosyst 22, 1165–1172 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-019-00888-0

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-019-00888-0

Keywords