The Role of Plantations of the African Palm (Elaeis Guineensis) in the Conservation of Snakes in Colombia

Abstract

Monocultures of the African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) were studied between 2006 and 2013 so as to determine which species of snakes frequented them and to estimate the abundances of each species encountered. Thirty five species of snakes (three boas, one coral, 27 colubrids, one tropidophid, one typhlopid, and two vipers) were captured within palmeras. Palm plantations are revealed to (1) augment the densities of ten species of snakes well beyond the densities found by collectors in natural and/or relatively transformed habitats and (2) to not offer benefits to at least 75% of the snake community found in the vicinities of palm plantations. The majority of snake species (60%) found in palmeras are nocturnal species. The most common species (defined by having 15 or more captures) were Atractus univittatus, Bothrops asper, B. atrox, Epicrates maurus, Leptodeira annulata, Liophis melanotus, Ninia atrata, Oxyrhopus petolarius, Pseudoboa neuwiedii, and Tantilla melanocephala. Palm plantations permit substantial local population sizes for a fraction (< 25%) of the local snake community. Internal practices of such plantations could be modified so as to protect a larger share of the fauna by means of two practices: (1) construction and maintenance of paleras as well as (2) creating a mosaic of palm plantations enclosing "islands" of secondary forests.Key words. African oil palm, microhabitats within plantations, snake abundances, snake communities. RESUMENLos monocultivos (plantaciones) de la palma de aceite Africana (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) fueron estudiados entre el 2006 y 2013, para determinar cuáles especies de serpientes se podrían encontrar, y también para estimar las abundancias de cada especie encontrada. Treinta cinco especies de serpientes (tres güíos, una coral, 27 colúbridos, un tropidófido, un tiflópido y dos vipéridos) fueron capturadas dentro de las palmeras. El trabajo de campo en estas plantaciones revela que: (1) aumenta la densidad de diez especies de serpientes, más que la densidad encontrada en hábitats naturales o moderantemente transformados y (2) pero no hay beneficios para los 75% de la comunidad de serpientes encontradas en los alrededores de la plantacion.

Sistemática do gênero Erythrolamprus Boie 1826 (Serpentes: Dipsadidae) utilizando dados morfológicos e moleculares

“…Additionally, our analyses agree with the taxonomic decisions made by Zaher et al (2009) and Grazziotin et al (2012) in merging Erythrolamprus, Liophis and Umbrivaga, supported with molecular and morphological evidence and removing previous doubts (Curcio et al 2009a, Myers 2011, Lynch 2015. These results suggest that the particular morphological features that lead to the recognition of Erythrolamprus s. st. and Umbrivaga as different genera are derived within this clade.…”

“…Despite some intrageneric controversies and rearrangements (Cunha and Nascimento 1980, Hardy and Boos 1995, Curcio et al 2009a, 2009b, 2015, the group has six currently accepted species (Curcio et al 2015); and the concept of Erythrolamprus s. st. as a genus has remained stable for at least the last century, being diagnosed by its coral color pattern and opistoglyph dentition.…”

“…as defined by Zaher et al(2009) and Grazziotin et al(2012) being well supported by molecular evidence, there is still some debate about the synonymization, and some authors still recognize Liophis, Erythrolamprus s. st. and Umbrivaga (Curcio et al 2009a, 2015, Wallach et al 2014, mainly because the last two genera have a very divergent morphology when compared with Liophis, and no single morphological synapomorphy is so far known for Erythrolamprus s. lat. (Myers 2011, Lynch 2015.…”

“…Monophyly of the tribe is supported by the presence of a bilobed, non-capitate and non-calyculate hemipenis with lobes ending in apical disks (Myers 1986, Zaher 1999, Moura-Leite 2001, Masiero 2006, Zaher et al 2009) and by molecular evidence (Myers 1986, Zaher et al 2009, Vidal et al 2010, Grazziotin et al 2012, Pyron et al 2013a, 2015 (but see Pyron et al 2013b). Within the tribe, the most diverse genus is Erythrolamprus with approximately 50 currently recognized species, and reaching 84 taxa when accounting for subspecies (Dixon 1989, Grazziotin et al 2012, Uetz and Hosek 2015.…”

The Impacts of Oil Palm Agriculture on Colombia's Biodiversity: What We Know and Still Need to Know

“…Seven publications were related to environmental issues such as carbon and greenhouse gases, and eight papers focused on the socioeconomic aspects and history of oil palm development in Colombia. Only three papers were related to landscape planning or land-use change [34][35][36], and, notably, just three were related to biodiversity: one included birds, dung beetles, ants and herpetofauna [37], another snakes [38], and one was related to ants [39].…”