A biodiversidade e o conhecimento etnoherpetológico de uma população ribeirinha em Atalaia do Norte, Amazônia, Brasil

Abstract

Knowing the perceptions and knowledge of a certain area, or in the case of a community in relation to the local fauna, allows a better understanding of human interactions with the environment, being fundamental in the formulation of strategies for the conservation of biodiversity. This work aimed to know the ophidiofauna and understand the ethnoherpetological knowledge of the residents and carry out a survey of snake species from the Palmari Natural Reserve, municipality of Atalaia do Norte. The research was carried out through the application of semi-structured interviews, using a questionnaire used as a script, with open and closed questions. The survey of snake biodiversity was carried out using the time-limited search, time-limited search and third-party collection sampling method. The interviews were applied to 50 randomly selected residents who were willing to contribute to the research. Most of the interviewees corresponded to men. Regarding the questions, when asked if they had ever encountered a snake, 92% said yes. 34% believe that all snakes have venom, 40% cited ways to differentiate a venomous snake, 74% agreed that snakes run behind people to bite them, 20% said they had already suffered some snakebite, 44% of respondents said they knew some homemade medicine for the treatment of snakebite, 72% of residents stated that snakes have some importance for nature. Nine species and 10 individuals of snakes were recorded for the Palmari Natural Reserve, distributed in five families, with the Dipsadidae family having the highest number, with four species. Through the use of the methods employed, it was possible to generate a set of necessary information and in this way to obtain relevant information regarding the environmental perception and traditional knowledge of the residents of the community, attributed to the importance of snakes for ecological balance and biodiversity.