Species composition and ecology of diurnal herpetofauna in agroecosystems of the Ecuadorian Choco

Agroecosystems occupy a large portion of the Ecuadorian Choco; unfortunately, most modern agricultural practices involve the use of agrochemicals that damage local flora and fauna or displace them to remnant forests. The present study evaluates the herpetofauna diversity and community structure of the Ecuadorian Choco organic and non-organic agroecosystems by performing diurnal monitoring in linear transects in crops of two high-demand products, plantain and passion fruit. The results indicate that community composition changes due to seasonality and agroecosystem types independently. In the dry season, higher diversity was observed in organic crops than non-organic crops, while in the rainy season more species were observed in the organic and non-organic plantain crops than the passionfruit crops. The most abundant species in both seasons was Holcosus septemlineatus, suggesting that it is highly tolerant to disturbance. Further, niche overlap occurs among species found near the ground and in shady areas, since they compete for resources or establish prey-predator interactions. We conclude that several of the studied species can be used as indicators of environmentally favorable agricultural practices.