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)

How well will Brazil's system of atlantic forest reserves maintain viable bird populations?

It is crucial for biodiversity conservation that protected areas are large and effective enough to support viable populations of their original species. We used a point count distance sampling method to estimate population sizes of a range of bird species in three Atlantic forest protected areas of size 5600, 22,500, and 46,050 ha. Population sizes were generally related to reserve area, although in the mid-sized reserve, there were many rare species reflecting a high degree of habitat heterogeneity. The proportions of forest species having estimated populations > 500 ranged from 55% of 210 species in the largest reserve to just 25% of 140 species in the smallest reserve. All forest species in the largest reserves had expected populations > 100, but in the small reserve, 28% (38 species) had populations < 100 individuals. Atlantic forest endemics were no more or less likely to have small populations than widespread species. There are 79 reserves (> 1000 ha) in the Atlantic forest lowlands. However, all but three reserves in the north of the region (Espirito Santo and states north) are smaller than 10,000 ha, and we predict serious levels of local extinction from these reserves. Habitat heterogeneity within reserves may promote species richness within them, but it may also be important in determining species loss over time by suppressing populations of individual species. We suggest that most reserves in the region are so small that homogeneity in the habitat/altitude within them is beneficial for maintenance of their (comparatively small) original species compliment. A lack of protection in the north, continued detrimental human activity inside reserves, and our poor knowledge of how well the reserve system protects individual taxa, are crucial considerations in biodiversity management in the region.

Linking frugivore activity to early recruitment of a bird dispersed tree, Eugenia umbelliflora (Myrtaceae) in the Atlantic rainforest

Seed dispersal by animals is a complex process involving several distinct stages: fruit removal by frugivores, seed delivery in different microhabitats, seed germination, seedling establishment, and adult recruitment. Nevertheless, studies conducted until now have provided scarce information concerning the sequence of stages in a plant's life cycle in its entirety. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the immediate consequences of frugivore activity for Eugenia umbelliflora ( Myrtaceae) early recruitment by measuring the relative importance of each fruit-eating bird species on the establishment of new seedlings in scrub and low restinga vegetation in the Atlantic rainforest, Brazil. We conducted focal tree observations on E. umbelliflora trees recording birds' feeding behaviour and post-feeding movements. We also recorded the fate of dispersed seeds in scrub and low restinga vegetation. We recorded 17 bird species interacting with fruits in 55 h of observation. Only 30% of the handled fruits were successfully removed. From 108 post flight movements of exit from the fruiting trees, 30.6% were to scrub and 69.4% to low restinga forest. Proportion of seed germination was higher in low restinga than in the scrub vegetation. Incorporating the probabilities of seeds' removal, deposition, and germination in both sites, we found that the relative importance of each frugivorous bird as seed dispersers varies largely among species. Turdus amaurochalinus and Turdus rufiventris were the best dispersers, together representing almost 12% probability of seed germination following removal. Our results show the importance of assessing the overall consequence of seed dispersal within the framework of disperser effectiveness, providing a more comprehensive and realistic evaluation of the relative importance of different seed dispersers on plant population dynamics.

Genetic structure in a tropical lek-breeding bird, the blue manakin (Chiroxiphia caudata) in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Determining the genetic structure of tropical bird populations is important for assessing potential genetic effects of future habitat fragmentation and for testing hypotheses about evolutionary mechanisms promoting diversification. Here we used 10 microsatellite DNA loci to describe levels of genetic differentiation for five populations of the lek-mating blue manakin (Chiroxiphia caudata), sampled along a 414-km transect within the largest remaining continuous tract of the highly endangered Atlantic Forest habitat in southeast Brazil. We found small but significant levels of differentiation between most populations. F-ST values varied from 0.0 to 0.023 (overall F-ST = 0.012) that conformed to a strong isolation by distance relationship, suggesting that observed levels of differentiation are a result of migration-drift equilibrium. N(e)m values estimated using a coalescent-based method were small (<= 2 migrants per generation) and close to the minimum level required to maintain genetic similarity between populations. An implication of these results is that if future habitat fragmentation reduces dispersal between populations to even a small extent, then individual populations may undergo a loss of genetic diversity due to an increase in the relative importance of drift, since inbreeding effective population sizes are relatively small (N-e similar to 1000). Our findings also demonstrate that population structuring can occur in a tropical bird in continuous habitat in the absence of geographical barriers possibly due to behavioural features of the species.

Bird attributes, plant characteristics, and seed dispersal of Pera glabrata (Schott, 1858), (Euphorbiaceae) in a disturbed cerrado area

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

Hyper abundant mesopredators and bird extinction in an Atlantic forest island

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

The impact of soybean expansion on mammal and bird, in the Balsas region, north Brasilian Cerrado

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Associations of Forest Cover, Fragment Area, and Connectivity with Neotropical Understory Bird Species Richness and Abundance

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Vigilance towards raptors by nuclear species in bird mixed flocks in a Brazilian savannah

A nuclear or leader species is the one around which foraging activity is organized. In the campo-cerrado (Brazilian savannah) up to four bird species (Saltator atricollis, Cypsnagra hirundinacea, Mimus saturninus, and Neothraupis fasciata) may function as nuclear or leader species in mixed species flocks. The aim of this study was to assess the features shown by these nuclear species. I quantified parameters of sociality, communication and alertness of nuclear bird species in mixed flocks with different composition. Parameters related to sociality (mean intraspecific group size) and communication (frequency of contact calls) were not correlated with the leadership. on the other hand, the most alert species was in the front of a given mixed flock most of the time. The leader species spent more time in vigilance and gave most alarm calls due to approaching raptors earlier. The results of this study strongly suggest that the alertness of a species is the major character of nuclear bird species in mixed flocks of the campo-cerrado.

Anting behavior by the White-bearded Manakin (Manacus manacus, Pipridae): an example of functional interaction in a frugivorous lekking bird

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

The golden lancehead Bothrops insularis (Serpentes: Viperidae) relies on two seasonally plentiful bird species visiting its island habitat

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Raptors and campo-cerrado bird mixed flock led by Cypsnagra Hirundinacea (Emberizidae:Thraupinae)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Bird species distribution and conservation in Serra do Cipo, Minas Gerais, Brazil

We studied the distribution of birds along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 800 m to 1,400 m on two slopes of the Serra do Cip6, Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil. Ornithological surveys were conducted over transects covering open (cerrado, campo rupestre) and forested (gallery and Atlantic forest) habitats from 1994 to 2000. We found 273 bird species belonging to 51 families. Twenty-two species were restricted to higher elevations and 84 Species were detected on only one slope, depending on the vegetation type they inhabited. We recorded 104 species occurring on both slopes, while 61 species were considered altitudinal generalists. Six species, including Hyacinth Visorbearer Augastes scutatus and Cip6 Canastero Asthenes luizae were restricted to the highest parts of Serra do Cip6, a fragile habitat important to endemic birds of the Espinhaco Range. In the past 10 years, the Serra do Cip6 region has suffered human impacts on a large scale, and conservation action must be developed to protect the fauna and flora confined to the area.