Bruscagin, R. T., M. Dixo, S. Famelli & J. Bertoluci

Patch size effects on richness, abundance, and diversity of leaf-litter lizards from Atlantic rainforest fragments. pp. 59-65.

Abstract. In order to analyse the implications of forest fragmentation for the conservation of leaf-litter lizards, the impor­tance of fragment size was examined at 21 forest sites within a continuous forest on the Atlantic Plateau of São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil. The fragments were 7–43 ha in size and had different percentages of habitat loss (37–95%). The spe­cies recorded, with the exception of Enyalius iheringii, presented low abundance, which may indicate their unsuitability for occupation or lizard inability to recolonize isolated remnants. Our results suggest that the conservation of these leaf-litter lizards depends on the maintenance of large portions of continuous forests and not on the size of remnant patches.

Key words. Atlantic Rainforest, conservation, fragmentation, Squamata, South America, southeastern Brazil.