Monitoreo de herpetofauna presente en la Reserva Natural Umbral Cultural Horizontes ubicada en la cadena montañosa de los cerros de Bogotá

Abstract

In the Andean ecosystems we can find a high humidity and abundant water supplies that have managed to favor the presence of amphibians and reptiles, mainly due to the physiological characteristics and evolutionary history of this group of animals; however, very little is currently known about the conservation status of the herpetofauna present in the RUCH belonging to the Cerros de Bogotá Foundation, which leads to the problem of being able to develop a restoration and conservation plan that is effective for the protection of amphibians and reptiles. The present work aimed to make the first record of species richness in the RUCH that covers 3 Ha of the extensive Eastern Hills of Bogotá, during the months of February-May of the year 2023, in order to analyze the diversity in this area. A total of 7 individuals belonging to 4 species were recorded, which are reptiles and being Anolis aff auratus and Atractus crassicaudatus the most abundant species. A factor that could represent the low population found in the study area is the anthropic intervention that has had and that has left traces; in various sectors of the RUCH where we found contamination, the absence of organisms was evident despite the fact that the ecosystems present there met the characteristics to have a great wealth of herpetofauna.