Impact of the transformation of forests into agricultural systems on the diversity of squamates in the Taï area

Abstract

The exploitation of tropical forests for agricultural purposes is a major threat to tropical biodiversity. In West Africa, data on the effects of agricultural systems on biodiversity are lacking. We studied how squamates can survive in agricultural systems in southwestern Côte d'Ivoire. We examined squamate species richness in forest environments (primary and secondary) in the NWP and in peripheral agrosystems (mosaic coffee and cocoa plantations, rubber plantations and rice fields). We hypothesised that species richness decreases with increasing disturbance (presence of agricultural systems) between habitat types. However, squamate composition differs greatly between the forest (conserved environment) and the agricultural system (anthropised environment). Furthermore, the highest species richness of squamates was observed in the forest. The low species richness observed in the surrounding agricultural systems is due to the high level of disturbance of these habitats.