The natural history of a cerrado snake community in a protected area in southeastern Brazil (Santa Bárbara Ecological Station; SBES) is described. A visual guide and an identification key are also provided to assist researchers and local people in identifying snakes in that region. Sampling was performed through pitfall traps, time-constrained search, accidental encounters, and observations by local people for two years, which corresponded to 240 days of sampling. Among the 388 individuals found in the field, 33 snake species belonging to 21 genera of seven families were recorded. Most species were restricted or found at least once in non-forest vegetation types (campo sujo, campo cerrado, and cerrado sensu stricto) and a few were restricted to forest habitats (cerradão). Our results show that most species (1) occupy open areas; (2) present both diurnal and nocturnal activity; (3) are primarily terrestrial; (4) include lizards, mammals and/or anurans in the diet; (5) present seasonal reproductive activity; and (6) use mainly visually oriented defensive tactics. Despite its small size (3,154 ha), the SBES harbours preserved habitats and a rich and typical Cerrado snake fauna, including threatened species. Furthermore, most of the SBES snakes occur in non-forest environments (54%) and some species are sensitive to habitat disturbance.

中文翻译：

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巴西东南部塞拉多南部蛇群的组成和自然历史

描述了巴西东南部保护区（圣巴巴拉生态站；SBES）中塞拉多蛇群落的自然历史。还提供了视觉指南和识别钥匙，以帮助研究人员和当地人识别该地区的蛇。采样通过陷阱陷阱、限时搜索、偶然遭遇和当地人观察进行了两年，相当于240天的采样。在野外发现的388条蛇中，记录了蛇类33种，隶属于7科21属。大多数物种在非森林植被类型（campo sujo、campo cerrado 和 cerrado sensu stricto）中受到限制或至少发现一次，少数物种仅限于森林栖息地（cerradão）。我们的结果表明，大多数物种 (1) 占据开放区域；(2) 存在昼夜活动；(3) 主要是陆地；(4) 在饮食中包括蜥蜴、哺乳动物和/或无尾目动物；(5) 呈现季节性繁殖活动；(6) 主要使用视觉导向的防守战术。尽管面积小（3,154 公顷），SBES 拥有保存完好的栖息地和丰富而典型的塞拉多蛇动物群，包括受威胁的物种。此外，大多数 SBES 蛇出现在非森林环境中 (54%)，一些物种对栖息地干扰很敏感。包括受威胁的物种。此外，大多数 SBES 蛇出现在非森林环境中 (54%)，一些物种对栖息地干扰很敏感。包括受威胁的物种。此外，大多数 SBES 蛇出现在非森林环境中 (54%)，一些物种对栖息地干扰很敏感。