18. AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE BRAZILIAN PANTANAL 495 Diversity, ecology, management and conservation of amphibians and reptiles of the Brazilian Pantanal: a review CHRISTINE STRÜSSMANN 1,2* , CYNTHIA P. A. PRADO 3 , VANDA L. FERREIRA 4 , AND RICARDO A. K. RIBEIRO 2,5 1 Departamento de Ciências Básicas e Produção Animal, Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Av. Fernando Correia da Costa, s/nº, 78060-900 Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil 2 Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universi- dade Federal de Mato Grosso 3 Departamento de Morfologia e Fisiologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Via de Acesso Prof. Paulo Donato Castel- lane km 05 , 14884-900 Jaboticabal, São Paulo, Brazil 4 Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Av. Costa e Silva, s/nº, Cidade Universitária, 79070- 900 Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil 5 Bolsista CAPES – Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior * corresponding author: christine@ufmt.br Abstract In the last decades, field inventories and ecological studies on amphibians and reptiles were intensified in the Upper Paraguay River Basin. Although a complete updated species list has not been published yet, these studies, together with the increment and organization of regional zoo- logical collections, allow a general evaluation of the taxonomic composition and ecological traits of the local herpetofauna. Both for amphibians and reptiles, areas in the floodplain present lower richness and higher abundances when compared to localities in the surrounding highlands. Ter- restrial species predominate in spite of the wide extension of aquatic habitats. New taxonomic records are expected due to the ongoing colonization process from neighboring ecosystems, climatic and hydrological changes, and ongoing research in distinct parts of the Pantanal. None of the species occurring in the whole basin is included in official lists of endangered species. There are quite good ecological and/or zootechnical databases for some taxa, which have been supporting conservation and management activities. However, several gaps in the knowledge of the ecology and natural history of most species still remain. Long term studies using standard- ized protocols to examine patterns of species distribution are needed to provide a framework to ensure compatibility between conservation and sustainable use of the Pantanal’s biodiversity. 18 Junk, W.J., Da Silva, C.J., Nunes da Cunha, C., Wantzen, K.M. (Eds) 2010 The Pantanal: Ecology, biodiversity and sustainable management of a large neotropical seasonal wetland, pp. 495-519. © Pensoft Publishers, Sofia–Moscow