Influence of Scenics in the diet of Bothrops atrox in the Eastern Amazon

• Grant number: 14/16113-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: October 20, 2014
• End date: April 19, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Plínio Barbosa de Camargo
• Grantee: Melissa Gaste Martinez
• Supervisor: Carlos Martínez del Rio
• Host Institution: Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Wyoming (UW), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/06239-5 - Influence of Scenics in the diet of Bothrops atrox in the eastern Amazon, BP.DR

Abstract

In Brazil, 90% of 26 000 snakebites are caused by Bothrops and the species Bothrops atrox predominant in the Brazilian Amazon. The region of Santarem (PA) is associated with 92% of snakebites, of which 20% are considered serious. This high incidence may be related to the floristic diversity of the scenarios in the region, enabling the existence of an amplitude of this genre. Through the use of the methodology of stable isotopes of carbon (13C) and nitrogen (15N), intends to verify if the changes in habits and food sources in the different environments and land use in the Amazon, in this case areas of forest, savanna and pasture, influence the isotopic composition of the snakes found in these different environments, in order to assist correlation studies, with the variability of their poisons. Snakes, as well as their potential prey will be collected in the three environments mentioned by three different collection methods - against casual, active search and pitfall traps - and will have their tissues analyzed isotopically. It is assumed that the different food sources in different environments are isotopically distinct, reflecting the isotopic composition of tissues of snakes. If confirmed this hypothesis this study will contribute not only to the knowledge of the ecology of the snake and its use environments, yet little reported, as for the improvement of future ophidic serum and decreased sequels generated by accidents. (AU)