Local ecological knowledge about reptiles and cryptic lizard in urban park in the Atlantic Forest

Silva, Holda Ramos da; Sales, Raul Fernandes Dantas; Freire, Eliza Maria Xavier

doi:10.1590/1809-4422asoc00572vu27L3OA

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Original Article • Ambient. soc. 27 • 2024 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1809-4422asoc00572vu27L3OA linkcopy

Local ecological knowledge about reptiles and cryptic lizard in urban park in the Atlantic Forest

Saber ecológico local sobre la fauna de reptiles y lagartijas crípticas en el bosque urbano

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Protected areas are important strategies for conserving biodiversity, but maintaining them is a challenge, especially in urban areas. In this study, the local ecological knowledge (LEK) of employees on the fauna of reptiles and small cryptic lizard species in an urban park in the Atlantic Forest was investigated. A total of 39 employees of the park were interviewed. It was found that employees have more specific knowledge about the local flora and recognize the importance of the park for the conservation of species. Employees with longer working time in the park have more LEK on the cryptic and endangered lizard Coleodactylus natalensis. This fact is of great relevance when added to the small size of the species and the lack of cultural and utilitarian value for the employees, since it is not the pattern observed in other LEK studies. This work also highlights the threats to which urban parks are subjected.

Keywords:
Local knowledge; urban parks; cryptic species; ethnoherpetology; conservation

Statements from interviewees	Information from the scientific bibliography
General characteristics of reptiles
“They are animals that crawl.” “they leave tracks on the trail”	Snakes and terrestrial lizards crawl and usually leave tracks in the sand, and their passage can be identified by the trail of the animals’ tail and/or paws (HICKMAN et al., 2014).
“they have a shell”	Turtles are surrounded by an armor (shell) consisting of a dorsal carapace and a ventral plastron (HICKMAN et al., 2014).
“they have a terrestrial habitat and hide in vegetation”	Amniotes occupy varied niches of aquatic and terrestrial habitats (VITT; CALDWELL, 2014).
“they lay eggs and hide in burrows”	Their success as land vertebrates can be attributed to several adaptations, including amniotic eggs (HICKMAN et al., 2014).
“They are cold-blooded animals.” “they are poikilotherms”	Cold-blooded animals is the common name given to ectothermic animals, such as amphibians and reptiles, which depend on environmental sources to gain heat; therefore, they respond to variation in the physical environment to regulate temperature (VITT; CALDWELL, 2014).
“...they are hunters”	The activities that require the greatest energy expenditure in reptiles are reproduction, escape, acquisition of prey and foraging, in which the last two are linked to searching for food, thus allowing some species of lizards and snakes to be considered hunters as they are active foragers (VITT; CALDWELL, 2014).

Statements from interviewees	Information from the scientific bibliography
Reproduction
“They lay eggs”	Females of Coleodactylus natalensis are oviparous, like other geckos (Gekkota group) (SALES et al., 2020).
“They lay several eggs in a clutch”	This does not match the scientific literature, as the clutch size is fixed, consisting of a single egg (LISBOA; SOUSA; RIBEIRO, 2008).
“They lay just 1 egg”	This species has a fixed clutch size of a single egg (LISBOA; SOUSA; RIBEIRO, 2008).
“It is common to find more than one egg in the same location”	It is very likely that different C. natalensis females use the same sites to oviposit, detecting the presence of conspecific eggs during the choice of oviposition site (SALES et al., 2020).
“It is not common to find more than one egg in the same location”	Coleodactylus females have a fixed posture of one egg, and can lay eggs in an isolated place or close to eggs from other females (SALES et al., 2020).
Diet
“...they feed on small insects.” “They feed on ants.”	The diet of C. natalensis is mainly composed of arthropods, most categorically represented by Isopoda and Araneae (LISBOA; SALES; FREIRE, 2012).
“...feed on fungi and tree resin”	This does not match the scientific literature available until the publication of this work (LISBOA; SALES; FREIRE, 2012).
Behavior/habitat
“they like humidity”	Coleodactylus natalensis preferably occupies forested habitats, in humid areas with milder temperatures, without direct sunlight and with thick leaf litter (LISBOA; FREIRE, 2012).
“They are more seen in winter (rainy season).” “they are more seen when it rains”	A significantly higher occurrence of C. natalensis lizards was found in the rainy season (LISBOA; FREIRE, 2012).
“are more active during the day”	Species of geckos in the Coleodactylus genus are only found active during the day (VITT et al., 2005).
“they stay more in the shade where there are lots of leaves and around trees”	Coleodactylus natalensis preferentially occupies forest habitats, which have mesic characteristics, such as a shaded environment and thick leaf litter (CAPISTRANO; FREIRE, 2009).
“they like to stay around trees where there is a lot of leaf litter”	The greater the thickness of the leaf litter, the greater the density of C. natalensis found. The same goes for the high forest region, where the highest density is found (LISBOA; FREIRE, 2012).

	LEK score - natural environment and reptiles	LEK score - Coleodactylus natalensis
Rural ancestry	5.67 ± 2.37 (N = 21)	6.00 ± 1.88 (N = 10)
Urban ancestry	6.11 ± 2.32 (N = 18)	5.83 ± 2.37 (N = 12)
Working time in the park > 5 years	5.88 ± 1.90 (N = 24)	6.29 ± 2.02 (N = 17)
Working time in the park < 5 years	5.87 ± 2.97 (N = 15)	4.60 ± 2.07 (N = 5)

Working time in the park	Recognized C. natalensis
> 5 years (N = 24)	17 (70.8%)
< 5 years (N = 15)	5 (33.3%)
Ancestry	Recognized C. natalensis
Rural (N = 21)	10 (47.6%)
Urban (N = 18)	12 (66.6%)

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[TFN1] Source: Ramos-Silva, Sales and Freire, 2024.