Levantamento da mastofauna e identificação das influências antrópicas em dois fragmentos de Mata Atlântica transição com Cerrado de Rubião Junior – Botucatu - SP

Atlantic Forest and Cerrado are between the biological richest areas in the world, for that are considered top conservation priorities. Those ecosystems are found at Botucatu region, where it´s extremely fragmented by routes, agricultural areas and urban centres. This fragmentation causes restrictions on animals populations, in particular to medium and large mammals, that needs larger areas to live and also are often hunted. Even isolated and suffering anthropic influences the fragments are fundamental for local biodiversity conservation. We realized a mammal survey on two forest fragments of Atlantic forest transition to Cerrado of Rubião Júnior – Botucatu – SP – Brazil: Santo Antônio Church and Parque das Cascatas forests. The Santo Antônio church munt is considered a turistic point and its forest receive many visitants, Parque das Cascatas forest is inside of a residential condominium. Both areas are classify as semidecidual stational forest and are disconected by Domingos Sartori route, that connect Botucatu centre to Rubião Júnior district. Around both fragments can be found residences, plantations and pastures. The utilized method included: recognition of tracks on the forests, interviews with next residents and sand plots mounting. The interviews indicated 29 mammals species, and 19 was validated for animal traces, overruns or visualization. Other 3 species found were not mentioned on interviews. Totally, was found 22 small and medium mammals presence evidences on both forest fragments. Parque das Cascatas forest showed more diversity (19) then Santo Antônio Church forest (11), and species like Eira barbara, Procyon cancrivorus, Mazama americana, Shiggurus villosus, Dasypus novemcinctus, Didelphis albiventris, Lutreolina crassicaudata and Lepus europaeus looked for other areas once that was verifyed overruns of individuals... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

Edaphic characterization of a forest savanna ecotone in southeastern Brazil

Edaphic characterization of a forest savanna ecotone in southeastern Brazil. This study was motivated by the scarcity of studies involving descriptions of edaphic horizons in the transition from savanna to forest. It aims at comparing the chemical features and the texture of savanna and forest soils in one ecotone, and at considering possible edaphic influences on vegetation. In areas pertaining to the Botanical Garden of Bauru, State of São Paulo, two-meter deep pits were opened in different parts of a seasonal semi-deciduous forest and of a forested savanna to directly collect soil samples in different horizons. The physicochemical analysis revealed high contents of different nutrients, e.g., Ca and Mg, and low contents of Al in the superficial horizons of the seasonal forest, which were classified as eutrophic. Conversely, all the forested savanna horizons were considered as dystrophic. These edaphic features may be due to the different microenvironments of the studied phytocenoses.

Anurans of a riparian forest in São Carlos, state of São Paulo, Brazil

No presente estudo foi realizado um inventário das espécies de anfíbios anuros que ocorrem em um fragmento de mata ciliar do Córrego do Espraiado, localizado na Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), Município de São Carlos, estado de São Paulo, sudeste do Brasil. Durante os meses de março de 2009 a fevereiro de 2010 foram realizadas saídas de campo semanais nas quais foram registradas 13 espécies de anuros. A atividade reprodutiva das espécies de anuros componentes da comunidade estudada mostrou-se sazonal, sendo que houve correlação positiva e significativa entre o número de espécies em atividade reprodutiva e o fotoperíodo. Verificamos que a comunidade estudada mostrou-se mais semelhante a comunidades de anuros de florestas de transição entre Mata Atlântica e Cerrado do que a fragmentos de Cerrado próximos da região.

Reproductive phenology of climbers in a Southeastern Brazilian forest

The reproductive phenology of the entire climber community (96 species of lianas and 40 species of vines) in a semideciduous forest in Southeastern Brazil (22 degrees 49'45''S; 47 degrees 06'33''W and 670 m altitude) was observed from March 1988 to February 1991. Phenological observations were made weekly by walking along a 10.5 km trail in the interior and at the forest edges of the Santa Genebra Reserve (SGR). The most species-rich families of climbers were Bignoniaceae (22), Malpighiaceae (17), Sapindaceae (12) and Asteraceae (12). Flowering patterns for woody lianas and herbaceous vines differed. Lianas had two flowering peaks: a minor peak in March in the transition from wet to dry season, and a major peak in October during the transition from dry to wet season. The flowering peak for herbaceous vines was in April. Fruiting of lianas was highly seasonal, with one peak in the late dry season (July-August). Fruiting for vines was less seasonal with a slight peak in March. These differences were consistent with the predominance of wind-dispersed fruits among lianas (72% of species) versus vines (52%). Low rainfall, high leaf fall, and strong winds during the dry season favor wind dispersal. More species of vines (40%) have animal-dispersed seeds than lianas (19%), and most vines fruited during the wet season. Phenological patterns of climbers and trees and treelets at SGR differed. The life form of lianas and their system of reserve economy may allow them to reproduce during periods unfavorable to trees. Displacement of peak flowering periods of trees and climbers pollinated by bees and small generalist insects may decrease competition for pollen vectors among species of these two groups of plants. Whereas the fruiting patterns of wind-dispersed trees and climbers at SGR were similar (most species fruiting during the dry season), animal-dispersed trees and treelets fruited throughout the year while animal-dispersed climbers exhibited a pronounced peak in late wet season. The distinct phenological patterns of climbers, generally complementary to those presented by trees, resulted in constant availability of Bowers and fruits throughout the year and enhances the importance of this plant group in Neotropical forests.