CECHIN & MARTINS (2000) made a descriptive comparison between previous herpetofaunal studies chosen from different biomes in Brazil, and RIBEIRO-JÚNIOR et al. For the Neotropical region no study is available for small mammals. 1994, ROLFE & MCKENZIE 2000, MOSEBY & READ 2001, THOMPSON et al. HOPPER 1981, MENKHORST 1982, BRAITHWAITE 1983, FRIEND & MITCHELL 1988, MORTON et al. MENGAK & GUYNN 1978, ENGE 2001), Australian region (e.g. Besides, few studies compare the effectiveness of different designs and sizes of pitfall traps, both for herpetofauna and small mammals, and they are mostly confined to the Neartic region (e.g. However, pitfall traps vary in many ways, which make it difficult to compare results from different studies. (2008) found that pitfall traps captured the largest number of species in Amazonian primary forest, and the highest rate of exclusive leaf litter species. In a comparison between four herpetofaunal sampling techniques (pitfall, funnel and glue traps, and active sampling), RIBEIRO-JÚNIOR et al. (2006) suggested the technique as essential for inventorying the small mammal fauna of the tropics, capturing more species and more individuals than Sherman traps (but see SANTOS-FILHO et al. This method is effective for detection of rare species and estimation of species richness and abundance in small mammal and herpetofauna communities, even though restricted to leaf litter fauna (BURY & RAPHAEL 1983, BURY & CORN 1987, GREENBERG et al. 2005), usually associated with drift fences to enhance their effectiveness (RICE et al. For terrestrial vertebrates, which concern many secretive species of leaf litter amphibians, lizards and small mammals, one of the most commonly used sampling technique are pitfall traps (THOMPSON et al. Such comparability however is difficult to achieve, especially in the absence of studies comparing the effectiveness of different designs of sampling methods, making their choice a question of personal preference. Moreover, biodiversity studies will be of far more value if their results are comparable between sites, so that broader conclusions can be made - an important point for achieving a better understanding of the ecosystems and for the development of environmental policies. In biodiversity studies the choice of sampling methods is important in determining how well one is able to effectively sample the target fauna, and therefore how successfully the whole study is accomplished. Key words: Amphibians faunal survey Neotropical forest reptiles sampling method small mammals. IIDepartamento de Biologia e Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso. IMuseu Paraense Emílio Goeldi & Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia, Universidade Federal do Pará-Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Influence of pitfall trap size and design on herpetofauna and small mammal studies in a Neotropical ForestĬorrespondig author. For surveys aiming only the herpetofauna the use of smaller (35 L) traps is acceptable, taking into consideration the cost-benefits obtained by the smaller traps, in comparison to the larger ones.Īmphibians faunal survey Neotropical forest reptiles sampling method small mammals Therefore, the use of 100 L pitfall traps is recommended to sample the terrestrial vertebrate fauna, in multidisciplinary studies. Results are very similar for the herpetofauna, regardless of the pitfall trap design or size used, while for small mammals values of species richness were higher for 100 L pitfall traps, as compared to the smaller traps. To address this problem, we conducted the first standardized comparison of patterns of species richness, rank-abundance, and community structure of leaf litter amphibians, lizards and small mammals for two trap designs (I and Y format) and three bucket sizes (35, 62, and 100 L) in a Neotropical forest. However, there are still many speculations concerning the effectiveness of different designs of pitfall traps and the most adequate size of each trap. One of the most commonly used sampling techniques to capture leaf litter amphibians, lizards and small mammals is a set of pitfall traps with drift fences.
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