Herpetofauna , Santa Edwiges I and II hydroelectric power plants , state of Goiás , Brazil

This paper presents a check list of amphibians and reptiles of the area under the influence of Santa Edwiges I and II small hydroelectric power plants on Rio Buritis, state of Goiás, Brazil. The list was the result of faunal rescue operations carried out between 31 August and 29 September 2005 (Santa Edwiges II) and between 30 July and 12 September 2006 (Santa Edwiges I). The list comprises 30 species of amphibians belonging to 16 genera and 8 families (Caeciliidae, Bufonidae, Cycloramphidae, Hylidae, Brachycephalidae, Leiuperidae, Leptodactylidae, and Microhylidae), and 45 species of reptiles belonging to 38 genera and 16 families (Amphisbaenidae, Anguidae, Gekkonidae, Gymnophtalmidae, Polychrotidae, Scincidae, Teiidae, Tropiduridae, Anomalepididae, Leptotyphlopidae, Typhlopidae, Boidae, Colubridae, Dipsadidae, Elapidae, and Viperidae). Introduction About 5,450 amphibian species are currently known in the world (Frost 2008) with approximately 15% of these species occurring within Brazilian territory (SBH 2008a). These numbers put Brazil in the first place related to countries with high diversity of amphibians. As to reptiles it is believed to exist up to 10,400 species in the world (Zug et al. 2001) with about 700 described for Brazil (SBH 2008b). The Cerrado is one of the most interesting tropical habitats related to species diversity patterns. The central location of this biome related to other Brazilian biomes favors a high regional diversity of species (MMA 2002). Despite several recent studies, amphibians and reptiles of the Cerrado are still poorly known or properly documented. Basic information on natural history, composition and structure of amphibian and reptile communities of the Cerrado are limited and mostly related to areas close to anthropic occupation, roads or rivers, reflecting the colonization history of the region (Dias 1994; Duellman 1999; Silva Jr. et al. 2005). If we consider the actual rate of deforestation and high endemism of Cerrado (Colli et al. 2002) this ecosystem is still poorly represented in published faunal inventories. The filling of hydroelectric power plant reservoirs, despite the enormous environmental impacts, can generate unique opportunities to improve the knowledge of regional herpetofauna within the affected area. This study is the result of the faunal rescue operation of the small hydroelectric power plants Santa Edwiges I and II, on the northeastern state of Goiás. Materials e Methods The small hydroelectric power plant (PCH) Santa Edwiges II is located on Buritis River (14°21'15" S and 46°11'40" W) and PCH Santa Edwiges I is located on Piracanjuba River (14°18'32" S and 46°10'25" W). Piracanjuba River is a tributary of the Buritis River and the latter is a tributary of the right margin of the Correntes River (upper Tocantins River valley), on the border of the municipalities of Mambaí and Buritinópolis, state of Goiás, Brazil. The distance between these Check List 5(3): 570–576, 2009.


Introduction
About 5,450 amphibian species are currently known in the world (Frost 2008) with approximately 15% of these species occurring within Brazilian territory (SBH 2008a).These numbers put Brazil in the first place related to countries with high diversity of amphibians.As to reptiles it is believed to exist up to 10,400 species in the world (Zug et al. 2001) with about 700 described for Brazil (SBH 2008b).The Cerrado is one of the most interesting tropical habitats related to species diversity patterns.The central location of this biome related to other Brazilian biomes favors a high regional diversity of species (MMA 2002).Despite several recent studies, amphibians and reptiles of the Cerrado are still poorly known or properly documented.Basic information on natural history, composition and structure of amphibian and reptile communities of the Cerrado are limited and mostly related to areas close to anthropic occupation, roads or rivers, reflecting the colonization history of the region (Dias 1994;Duellman 1999;Silva Jr. et al. 2005).
If we consider the actual rate of deforestation and high endemism of Cerrado (Colli et al. 2002) this ecosystem is still poorly represented in published faunal inventories.The filling of hydroelectric power plant reservoirs, despite the enormous environmental impacts, can generate unique opportunities to improve the knowledge of regional herpetofauna within the affected area.This study is the result of the faunal rescue operation of the small hydroelectric power plants Santa Edwiges I and II, on the northeastern state of Goiás.

Materials e Methods
The small hydroelectric power plant (PCH) Santa Edwiges II is located on Buritis River (14°21'15" S and 46°11'40" W) and PCH Santa Edwiges I is located on Piracanjuba River (14°18'32" S and 46°10'25" W).Piracanjuba River is a tributary of the Buritis River and the latter is a tributary of the right margin of the Correntes River (upper Tocantins River valley), on the border of the municipalities of Mambaí and Buritinópolis, state of Goiás, Brazil.The distance between these power plants (from north to south in straight line) is about 6 km.(Figure 1).The rescue activities at PCH Santa Edwiges II were carried out between 31 August and 29 September 2005 (29 days) and  at PCH Santa Edwiges I between 30 July and 12  September 2006 (45 days) ---------Owing to the short distance between these power plants we treated the results as a combined faunal list (Santa Edwiges I/II).All collected specimens were deposited at the herpetological collection of the Museu de Zoologia of the Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP) and the Centro de Estudos e Pesquisas Biológicas (CEPB) of the Universidade Católica de Goiás (Appendix).

Results and Discussion
The site of Santa Edwiges II presented nine species of amphibians and 18 species of reptiles but all were included in the list of 30 species of amphibians and 45 species of reptiles of Santa Edwiges I (total of 75 species), therefore herpetofauna of both sites are treated together as Santa Edwiges I/II.Amphibians were represented by two orders, eight families, 16 genera, and 30 species.The order Anura contributed with seven families, 15 genera, and 29 species, and the order Gymnophiona with one family, one genus, and one species.The families with higher species numbers were Hylidae and Leiuperidae with 14 and five species respectively, followed by Leptodactylidae (four species), Bufonidae and Microhylidae (two species), and Brachycephalidae, Cycloramphidae and Caeciliidae (one species).The higher number of hylids is a known characteristic already described by other authors for the Neotropical region.Hylids (frogs) are adapted to an arboreal habit enabling them to successfully occupy environments with high structural heterogeneity (Cardoso et al. 1989) as the phytophysiognomies of the Cerrado-Caatinga ecotone.Reptiles were represented by the order Squamata, with 16 families, 38 genera, and 45 species.Amphisbaenians contributed with one family, three genera, and three species.Lizards contributed with seven families, 12 genera, and 14 species, with snakes represented by eight families, 23 genera, and 28 species (Table 1).
The species recorded in this study were analyzed and compared with other reports of faunal distribution on the five Brazilian ecosystems, with Frost (2008) and Bastos et al. (2003) for amphibians, and Colli et al. (2002), Silva Jr. andSites (1995), and Pavan (1999) for reptiles.The morphoclimatic and phytogeographic conditions of the Cerrado make possible ample contact zones with the remaining ecosystems therefore transforming it in a faunal confluence of several origins.
Cana Brava presented 41 species of amphibians and 78 of reptiles (total of 118 species) and Serra da Mesa presented 34 species of amphibians and 89 species of reptiles (total of 122 species) (Silva Jr. et al. 2005;Silva Jr. 2007).In a comparative analysis there is a higher similarity in species composition between Serra da Mesa and Cana Brava possibly due to the proximity of these sites (reservoirs are contiguous and there are similar physical and vegetational characteristics) as demonstrated by 141 species (amphibians and reptiles) in common.Despite this similarity there are 32 exclusive species for Cana Brava and 86 for Serra da Mesa.Since these data come from faunal rescue operations, the discrepancies in number of species might be partly related to flooded area and collecting efforts.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Location of PCHs Santa Edwiges I and II in the state of Goiás.

Table 1 .
-Amphibians and reptiles recorded in the region affected by PCHs Santa Edwiges I and II (municipality of Mambaí, state of Goiás, Brazil).