Microhabitat Selection of three Forest Understory Birds in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest

When assessing fragmentation effects on species, not only habitat preferences on the landscape scale, but also microhabitat selection is an important factor to consider, as microhabitat is also affected by habitat disturbance, but nevertheless essential for species for foraging, nesting and sheltering. In the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil we examined microhabitat selection of six Pyriglena leucoptera (white-shouldered fire-eye), 10 Sclerurus scansor (rufous-breasted leaftosser), and 30 Chiroxiphia caudata (blue manakin). We radio-tracked the individuals between May 2004 and February 2005 to gain home ranges based on individual fixed kernels. Vegetation structures in core plots and fringe plots were compared. In C. caudata, we additionally assessed the influence of behavioural traits on microhabitat selection. Further, we compared microhabitat structures in the fragmented forest with those in the contiguous, and contrasted the results with the birds` preferences. Pyriglena leucoptera preferred liana tangles that were more common in the fragmented forest, whereas S. scansor preferred woody debris, open forest floor (up to 0.5 m), and a thin closed leaf litter cover which all occurred significantly more often in the contiguous forest. Significant differences were detected in C. caudata for vegetation densities in the different strata; the distance of core plots to the nearest lek site was significantly influenced by sex and age. However, core sites of C. caudata in fragmented and contiguous forests showed no significant differences in structure. Exploring microhabitat selection and behavior may greatly support the understanding of habitat selection of species and their susceptibility to fragmentation on the landscape scale.

Landscape perception by forest understory birds in the Atlantic Rainforest: black-and-white versus shades of grey

Even among forest specialists, species-specific responses to anthropogenic forest fragmentation may vary considerably. Some appear to be confined to forest interiors, and perceive a fragmented landscape as a mosaic of suitable fragments and hostile matrix. Others, however, are able to make use of matrix habitats and perceive the landscape in shades of grey rather than black-and-white. We analysed data of 42 Chiroxiphia caudata (Blue Manakin), 10 Pyriglena leucoptera (White-shouldered Fire-eye) and 19 Sclerurus scansor (Rufous-breasted Leaftosser) radio-tracked in the Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil between 2003 and 2005. We illustrate how habitat preferences may determine how species respond to or perceive the landscape structure. We compared available with used habitat to develop a species-specific preference index for each of six habitat classes. All three species preferred old forest, but relative use of other classes differed significantly. S. scansor perceived great contrast between old forest and matrix, whereas the other two species perceived greater habitat continuity. For conservation planning, our study offers three important messages: (1) some forest specialist species are able to persist in highly fragmented landscapes; (2) some forest species may be able to make use of different anthropogenic habitat types to various degrees; whereas (3) others are restricted to the remaining forest fragments. Our study suggests species most confined to forest interiors to be considered as potential umbrella species for landscape-scale conservation planning.

Is bird incidence in Atlantic forest fragments influenced by landscape patterns at multiple scales?

The degree to which habitat fragmentation affects bird incidence is species specific and may depend on varying spatial scales. Selecting the correct scale of measurement is essential to appropriately assess the effects of habitat fragmentation on bird occurrence. Our objective was to determine which spatial scale of landscape measurement best describes the incidence of three bird species (Pyriglena leucoptera, Xiphorhynchus fuscus and Chiroxiphia caudata) in the fragmented Brazilian Atlantic forest and test if multi-scalar models perform better than single-scalar ones. Bird incidence was assessed in 80 forest fragments. The surrounding landscape structure was described with four indices measured at four spatial scales (400-, 600-, 800- and 1,000-m buffers around the sample points). The explanatory power of each scale in predicting bird incidence was assessed using logistic regression, bootstrapped with 1,000 repetitions. The best results varied between species (1,000-m radius for P. leucoptera; 800-m for X. fuscus and 600-m for C. caudata), probably due to their distinct feeding habits and foraging strategies. Multi-scale models always resulted in better predictions than single-scale models, suggesting that different aspects of the landscape structure are related to different ecological processes influencing bird incidence. In particular, our results suggest that local extinction and (re)colonisation processes might simultaneously act at different scales. Thus, single-scale models may not be good enough to properly describe complex pattern-process relationships. Selecting variables at multiple ecologically relevant scales is a reasonable procedure to optimise the accuracy of species incidence models.

Comparative range use by three Atlantic Forest understorey bird species in relation to forest fragmentation

In this paper, we report on range use patterns of birds in relation to tropical forest fragmentation. Between 2003 and 2005, three understorey passerine species were radio-tracked in five locations of a fragmented and in two locations of a contiguous forest landscape on the Atlantic Plateau of Sao Paulo in south-eastern Brazil. Standardized ten-day home ranges of 55 individuals were used to determine influences of landscape pattern, season, species, sex and age. In addition, total observed home ranges of 76 individuals were reported as minimum measures of spatial requirements of the species. Further, seasonal home ranges of recaptured individuals were compared to examine site fidelity. Chiroxiphia caudata, but not Pyriglena leucoptera or Sclerurus scansor, used home ranges more than twice as large in the fragmented versus contiguous forest. Home range sizes of C. caudata differed in relation to sex, age, breeding status and season. Seasonal home ranges greatly overlapped in both C. caudata and in S. scansor. Our results suggest that one response by some forest bird species to habitat fragmentation entails enlarging their home ranges to include several habitat fragments, whereas more habitat-sensitive species remain restricted to larger forest patches.

Movements of neotropical understory passerines affected by anthropogenic forest edges in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest

Edge effects are suggested to have great impact on the persistence of species in fragmented landscapes. We tested edge avoidance by forest understory passerines in the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest and also compared their mobility and movement patterns in contiguous and fragmented landscapes to assess whether movements would increase in the fragmented landscape. Between 2003 and 2005, 96 Chiroxiphia caudata, 38 Pyriglena leucoptera and 27 Sclerurus scansor were radio-tracked. The most strictly forest species C. caudata and S scansor avoided forest edges while P leucoptera showed affinities for the edge Both sensitive species showed larger mean step length and maximal observed daily distance in the fragmented forest versus the unfragmented forest. P. leucoptera did not show any significant difference. There were no significant differences in proportional daily home range use for any of the three species. Our results suggested that fragmentation and the consequent increase in edge areas do influence movement behavior of sensitive forest understory birds that avoided the use of edges and increased the speed and distance they covered daily. For the most restricted forest species, it would be advisable to protect larger patches of forest instead of many small or medium fragments connected by narrow corridors. However, by comparing our data with that obtained earlier, we concluded that movement behavior of resident birds differs from that of dispersing birds and might not allow to infer functional connectivity or landscape-scale sensitivity to fragmentation; a fact that should be taken into consideration when suggesting conservation strategies. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Impact of Road Clearings on the Movements of Three Understory Insectivorous Bird Species in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

The genus Nanopterodectes Mironov, 2009 (Acari, Proctophyllodidae), with descriptions of three new species from antbirds (Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae) in Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

ATTENDANCE and CO-OCCURRENCE of BIRDS FOLLOWING ARMY ANTS IN THE ATLANTIC RAIN FOREST

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Three new proctophyllodine feather mites (Acari: Proctophyllodidae) from passerines in Brazil (Aves: Passeriformes)

Three new species of the feather mite subfamily Proctophyllodinae are described from passerines in Brazil: Nycteridocaulus guaratubensis sp. nov. from Phylloscartes kronei (Rhynchocyclidae), Mimicalges neopelmae sp. nov. from Neopelma pallescens (Pipridae) and Atrichophyllodes leucopterus sp. nov. from Pyriglena leucoptera (Thamnophilidae). The females of Mimicalges are described for the first time. http://www.zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:88E17B8B-CBFD-4B05-94B9-23FFCC34910. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.

The genus Nanopterodectes Mironov, 2009 (Acari, Proctophyllodidae), with descriptions of three new species from antbirds (Passeriformes: Thamnophilidae) in Brazil

Three new species of the recently discovered, and hitherto monotypic, feather mite genus Nanopterodectes Mironov, 2009 are described: N. acutirostris n. sp. from Stymphalornis acutirostris Bornschein, Reinert & Teixeira, N. mentalis n. sp. from Dysithamnus mentalis (Temminck), and N. leucopterus n. sp. from Pyriglena leucoptera (Vieillot). This feather mite genus is currently restricted to passerine birds of the Neotropical family Thamnophilidae in Brazil. A key to the known species of Nanopterodectes is presented for both sexes.

Evaluación de la incidencia natural de Beauveria bassiana (Bals) vuill sobre Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) y leucoptera coffeella (Guerin-Meneville) en el cultivo de café en dos zonas cafetaleras de Nicaragua

El presente estudio se realizó en la zona cafetalera del Norte y Pacífico de Nicaragua, en el período comprendido de Marzo a Noviembre del 2004. La incidencia natural del hongo entomopatógeno Beauveria bassiana sobre Hypothenemus hampei fue evaluada en tres fincas localizadas en el Coyolar, El Tuma, Matagalp a y la incidencia natural sobre Leucoptera coffeella fue evaluada en tres fincas ubicadas en Masatepe y Niquinohomo, Masaya. Los objetivos del presente estudio fueron: a) Evaluar la incidencia natural del hongo entomopatógeno Beauveria bassiana sobre H. ha mpei y sobre L. coffeella en las zonas cafetaleras de El Tuma, Matagalpa y Masatepe y Niquinohomo, Masaya; b) Evaluar diferentes métodos de cámara húmeda para el estudio de la incidencia natural de B. bassiana sobre H. hampei y L. coffeella ; c) Evaluar l a fluctuación poblacional de H. hampei y L. coffeella en plantaciones de café sin aplicaciones de productos químicos ni biológicos. Para evaluar la incidencia de H. hampei y L. coffeella se realizaron muestreos quincenales en las fincas en estudio. Para e studiar la incidencia natural de B. bassiana se obtuvieron muestras de frutos brocados y hojas minadas, las que fueron procesadas en el laboratorio de la UNA. Para las muestras de broca se usaron tres métodos: Cámara húmeda en vasos con agar - agua, cámara h úmeda en vasos con papel filtro y cámara húmeda en bolsas plásticas, para minador se usaron dos métodos: Cámara húmeda en vasos con agar - agua y cámara húmeda en bolsas plásticas. Las muestras eran revisadas cada dos días para observar la incidencia del hon go entomopatógeno. Los resultados indican que La mayor incidencia de B. bassiana sobre H. hampei se presentó en las muestras obtenidas en la finca Quitasueño, con 60% de incidencia, mediante el método de cámara húmeda en bolsas plásticas y el mayor nivel d e incidencia de B. bassiana sobre L. coffeella se presentó en las muestras obtenidas en la finca Héroes y Mártires, con 25% de incidencia, mediante el método de cámara húmeda de vasos con agar - agua. Durante todo el estudio, H. hampei presentó niveles de in cidencia que oscilaron entre 4 y 16%, en las fincas IX muestreadas, niveles que son superiores al nivel crítico establecido de 2% para esta plaga. La incidencia de L. coffeella fue relativamente baja en dos de las fincas muestreadas, solamente la finca San Luis presentó un porcentaje alto alcanzando 26% en una de las fechas de muestreo.

Evaluacion de la incidencia natural de Beauveria bassiana (Bals) Vuill, sobre Hypothenemus hampei (Ferrari) y leucoptera coffeella (Guerin-meneville) en el cultivo de cafe en dos zonas cafetaleras de Nicaragua

Con el objetivo de evaluar la incidencia natural de Beauveria bassiana (Bals) Vuill y su nivel de infección sobre broca del café ( Hypothenemus hampei ) y el minador ( Leucoptera coffeella), se realizó la presente investigación en plantaciones de café con manejo tradicional y sin aplicaciones de plaguicidas ni de B. bassiana . La incidencia de B. bassiana sobre H. hampei , se evaluó de Julio a Noviembre del 2005 en tres fincas de la comunidad de El Coyolar, municipio de El Tuma-La Dalia, Matagalpa. La incidencia de B. bassiana sobre L. coffeella , se evaluó de Febrero a Junio del 2006 en tres fincas de Niquinohomo y Masatepe, Masaya. Los muestreos de H. hampei , L. coffeella , así como la colecta de frutos brocados y de hojas minadas se hicieron cada 15 días. Las variables estudiadas fueron: porcentajes de frutos brocados, porcentaje de hojas minadas, incidencia de B. bassiana sobre adultos de H. hampei e incidencia de B. bassiana sobre larvas de L. coffeella . Los adultos de broca y las larvas de minador, se aislaron de las muestras colectadas y fueron colocados individualmente en cámara húmeda. Las muestras se observaron cada 2 días, descartándolas una vez envejecidas, los insectos muertos que resultaron colonizados por el hongo fueron separados del resto, luego se procedía a hacer el aislamiento, identificación y preservación del hongo. Los datos obtenidos fueron sometidos a un análisis de varianza y separación de medias mediante la prueba de Tukey. Los datos encontrados, indican que B. bassiana se encuentra infectando naturalmente a H. hampei y L. coffeella . Los niveles máximos de infección fueron de 44% sobre la broca del café y 6.45% sobre el minador de las hojas del café. La incidencia de B. bassiana sobre H. hampei fue estadísticamente similar en las tres fincas; en general la incidencia del hongo sobre broca fue significativamente menor en el mes de Julio e inicios de Agosto. La incidencia de B. bassiana sobre L. coffeella fue escasa para la tres fincas

Prolactin, body condition and the cost of good parenting: an interyear study in a long-lived seabird, Gould's Petrel (Pterodroma leucoptera)

1. The pituitary hormone prolactin is thought to play an important role in the promotion of parental care in birds and mammals. The level of care parents provide is, however, likely to be influenced by additional factors, such as their physiological condition at the time of breeding.

2. We examined relationships between parental body condition, plasma prolactin levels and reproductive performance in Gould's Petrels (Pterodroma leucoptera), a long-lived seabird. We predicted that parental body condition would correlate positively with both prolactin level and parenting intensity, as measured by the quality of the chick they produced. We also examined the effects of parenting intensity on parental body condition and reproductive success in the subsequent breeding season.

3. Body condition of male parents positively correlated with prolactin levels at the start of their second protracted incubation bout. The body condition of both parents correlated positively with the body condition of their chick at its peak mass. However, producing a good-quality chick did not negatively affect parental body condition or reproductive success the following year.

4. These results suggest that prolactin reinforces parental behaviour in parents in good body condition, which facilitates production of good-quality chicks. Moreover, good-quality parents consistently produce good-quality chicks with no apparent trade-off to their physical condition.