RESUMO
Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peerreviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other largescale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.
RESUMO
The northern part of the state of Rio Grande do Sul was extensively deforested in recent decades, and only isolated fragments of the original vegetation remain. The Parque Natural Municipal de Sertão comprises a remnant of Atlantic Rain Forest, one of the largest fragments in northern Rio Grande do Sul. This study examined the diversity of the herpetofauna, focusing on environmental distribution, seasonality and species richness. We used complementary methods of sampling such as pitfall traps, active search and occasional encounters. We recorded 23 species of frogs, nine snakes and one lizard. With respect to the relationship between amphibians and reptiles and the structural and abiotic factors of the environment, the edge of the fragment showed higher richness and increased dominance of amphibians and reptiles than the interior. The highest amphibian abundances were found when the minimum temperatures were higher and maximum temperatures were lower. The abundance of snakes was correlated with humidity, and species richness was influenced by humidity and monthly average temperature. Our results reinforce the importance of the conservation of forested areas to the maintenance of the species.
O norte do Rio Grande do Sul foi extensivamente desflorestado durante as últimas décadas e restaram somente fragmentos isolados das áreas originais. O Parque Natural Municipal de Sertão compreende um remanescente de Mata Atlântica, um dos maiores fragmentos do norte do Rio Grande do Sul. O objetivo deste estudo foi conhecer a diversidade da herpetofauna, enfocando aspectos da distribuição no ambiente, sazonalidade e riqueza de espécies. Utilizamos métodos complementares como armadilhas de interceptação e queda, procura ativa e encontros ocasionais. Registramos 23 espécies de anfíbios anuros, nove de serpentes e uma de lagarto. Encontramos relação entre os anfíbios e répteis e os fatores estruturais e abióticos do ambiente, onde a borda do fragmento apresentou maior riqueza e maior dominância de anfíbios e répteis que o interior do fragmento. As maiores abundâncias de anfíbios foram encontradas quando as temperaturas mínimas eram maiores e temperaturas máximas menores. A abundância de serpentes foi correlacionada com a umidade e a riqueza foi influenciada pela umidade e temperatura média mensal. Nossos resultados reforçam a importância da conservação de áreas florestadas para a manutenção das espécies.
