Diversidade, padrões espaciais e temporais de anfíbios anuros em uma floresta estacional semidecidual atlântica, parque estadual do Morro do Diabo (PEMD)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Composição faunística, ecologia e história natural de serpentes em uma região no sudoeste da Amazônia, Rondônia, Brasil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Estudo comparativo da taxocenose de anuros de quatro municípios do Lagamar Paulista

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

Riqueza e composição de espécies de formigas no processo de recuperação de uma voçoroca

This study aimed to determine how the richness and composition of ant species behaves with changes in the recovery process of a gully erosion. The study area has 0.9 hectares subdivided into three sections called sector: A, B and C. For the definition of the sectors, erosive and natural restoring were taken as the base level of activity. Four transects were laid systematically throughout the area and surrounding compound with forest and grassland. Each transect had three pitfall trap ten meters apart from each other, with catches of ants were held in rainy and dry seasons. Analysis of variance was applied to compare the number of ant species per plot captured and Scott-Knott test 5% for comparison of means. To verify the similarity of species between environments it was performed an analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) and ordering of environments a Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling (NMDS). We captured 74 species of ants inside and around the gully erosion. The more degraded environment and initial stage of regeneration, showed greater richness of ant species. The composition of ant species was different between the recovery environments and around. The parameters of ant communities analyzed, richness and composition species were influenced by the regeneration of the area, indicating that ants can be used as bioindicators of gullies recovery.

Riqueza de espécies de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) em duas fitofisionomias de cerrado no município de Ipameri, GO, Brasil

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Entomologia Agrícola) - FCAV

Diversity of leaf-litter anurans in a fragmented landscape of the Atlantic Plateau of Sao Paulo State, southeastern Brazil

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

Species limits, phylogeographic and hybridization patterns in Neotropical leaf frogs (Phyllomedusinae)

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

Diversidade de Formicidae (Hymenoptera) em um fragmento de Floresta Estacional Semidecídua no Noroeste do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil.

(Ant diversity (Hymenoptera) in a fragment of Semidecidual Seasonal Forest in Northwest of São Paulo State, Brazil). Due to scarce knowledge about ant fauna from Northwestern São Paulo State, the present study aimed to know the taxonomic diversity of Formicidae, relating the results to climatic variation along of one year. The samples were gotten monthly, using pitfall traps. It was sampled 25 species of 15 genera and seven subfamilies. Myrmicinae was the sampled richest subfamily, follows by Formicinae and Ponerinae. According Wilcoxon test, the species richness, equability and diversity estimated by Simpson index were significantly higher in the rain season. The obtained results suggest that the abundance of ants is significantly related to the temperature variation, while the ant assemblage structure is related to thermal and pluviometric variations.

Fauna edáfica na dinâmica sucessional da Mata Atlântica em floresta estacional semidecidual na Bacia do Rio Paraíba do Sul - RJ

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Bromeliads as biodiversity amplifiers and habitat segregation of spider communities in a Neotropical rainforest

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

Ecologia alimentar de Tatu-Peba, Euphractus sexcinctus (Linnaeus, 1758), na Fazenda Nhumirim, Pantanal da Nhecolância, MS

Studies on feeding ecology are important tools for the understanding of feeding strategies and niche dynamics. Information on the type of food consumed, how, and where it is acquired, enable the elucidation of species behavioral, evolutionary and ecological aspects. The diet study based on fecal material enables a low-cost, informative research and avoids the sacrifice of animals. The general aim of this study is to characterize the diet of Euphractus sexcinctus, the yellow-armadillo, based on fecal samples, to contribute with additional information on their feeding habits. The study was undertaken at the Nhumirim ranch, Pantanal da Nhecolândia, MS, during the months of February and March, 2014. The fecal material was collected during the manual capture of the animals and oven dried at 60°C. The food items found in the feces were sorted using a magnifying glass and separated in the following categories: plant matter, invertebrates and soil. Invertebrates were identified to the order level and the plant matter to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Aiming to evaluate the invertebrate availability in the soil, pitfall traps were installed next to the location where individuals were captured, during the months of April and May. We were able to estimate the frequency with which item was consumed during the studied period, and if there is a relationship between the frequency of consumed invertebrates and their availability environment. Among the analyzed samples, we could observe the frequency of occurrence (FO) of plant matter, invertebrates and soil in all the samples. The main invertebrate orders found in the samples were: Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera, with FO of 100%, 100% and 87,5%, respectively. Seeds were found in 100% of the samples. The FO of the Byrsonima orbignyana was high (62,5%), and evidences the potential of the yellow-armadillos as seed dispersers. The use of other techniques, such as the micro-histological...

BURROW-BUILDING STRATEGIES AND HABITAT USE OF VOLES IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST ORCHARDS

Seidel and Booth (1960) wrote that the "life histories of the genus Microtus are not numerous in the literature." In support of his observation he cited 6 publications, all dated between 1891 and 1953. Since then the literature has exploded with a proliferation of publications. An international literature review recently revealed over 3,500 citations for the genus. When Pitymys and Clethrionomys are included another 350 and 1,880, respectively, were found. Over the last 10 years approximately 3 new publications on voles appeared every 4 days; a significant output for what some would consider such an insignificant species. Most of the publications were the result of graduate research projects on population dynamics and species ecology. As such, many do not explore more than the rudimentary ecological relationships between the animal and their environments. Unfortunate, as well, is that all but one confined their observations to only a small part of their total environment. For many of these animals, their life underground may be more important for their survival than that above ground. Trapping studies conducted by Godfrey and Askham (1988) with permanently placed pitfall live traps in orchards revealed a significant inverse population fluctuation during the year. During the winter, when populations are expected to decrease, as many as 6 to 8 mature Microtus montanus were collected at any 1 time in the traps after several centimeters of snow accumulation. During the summer, when populations are expected to increase, virtually no animals were collected in the traps. According to current population dynamics theory, greater numbers of animals, including increasingly larger numbers of immature members of the community, should appear in any sample between the onset of the breeding period, generally in the spring, taper off during the latter part of the production season, usually late summer, and then decline as the limiting factors begin to take effect. For us, we trapped more animals in the fall and early winter than we did during the spring and summer. A review of the above literature did little to answer our question. Where are the animals going during the summer and why?

Ecologia alimentar de Tatu-Peba, Euphractus sexcinctus (Linnaeus, 1758), na Fazenda Nhumirim, Pantanal da Nhecolância, MS

Studies on feeding ecology are important tools for the understanding of feeding strategies and niche dynamics. Information on the type of food consumed, how, and where it is acquired, enable the elucidation of species behavioral, evolutionary and ecological aspects. The diet study based on fecal material enables a low-cost, informative research and avoids the sacrifice of animals. The general aim of this study is to characterize the diet of Euphractus sexcinctus, the yellow-armadillo, based on fecal samples, to contribute with additional information on their feeding habits. The study was undertaken at the Nhumirim ranch, Pantanal da Nhecolândia, MS, during the months of February and March, 2014. The fecal material was collected during the manual capture of the animals and oven dried at 60°C. The food items found in the feces were sorted using a magnifying glass and separated in the following categories: plant matter, invertebrates and soil. Invertebrates were identified to the order level and the plant matter to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Aiming to evaluate the invertebrate availability in the soil, pitfall traps were installed next to the location where individuals were captured, during the months of April and May. We were able to estimate the frequency with which item was consumed during the studied period, and if there is a relationship between the frequency of consumed invertebrates and their availability environment. Among the analyzed samples, we could observe the frequency of occurrence (FO) of plant matter, invertebrates and soil in all the samples. The main invertebrate orders found in the samples were: Coleoptera, Orthoptera and Hymenoptera, with FO of 100%, 100% and 87,5%, respectively. Seeds were found in 100% of the samples. The FO of the Byrsonima orbignyana was high (62,5%), and evidences the potential of the yellow-armadillos as seed dispersers. The use of other techniques, such as the micro-histological...

A large Cervidae Holocene accumulation in Eastern Brazil: an example of extreme taphonomical control in a cave environment

A remarkable cervid bone accumulation occurs at a single passage (named Cervid Passage; CP) at Lapa Nova, a maze cave in eastern Brazil. CP lies away from cave entrances, is a typical pitfall passage and contains bone remains of at least 121 cervids, besides few bats, peccaries and rodents remains. There is no evidence of water (or sediment) flow at the site and in general bones lack post depositional alterations and display anatomical proximity, suggesting that the majority of the remains found inside CP (mainly cervids) are due to animals that after entering the cave got trapped in the site. Observations suggest that two entrances could have provided access to cervids (and the few other animals, besides bats), either by falling inside the cave or by entering by their own free will. Once inside the cave, the maze pattern would make route finding difficult, and of all passage intersections, only the one leading to CP would result in a non-return situation, starving the animal to death. Radiocarbon dates suggest that animal entrapment occurred during at least 5 thousand years, during the Holocene. The reasons why mainly cervids were found are unknown but they are probably related to the biology of this group coupled with the fact that caves provide several specific taphonomic processes that may account for a strong bias in bone accumulation. Indeed, the frequent occurrence of Cervidae in both the fossil and sub-fossil record in Brazilian caves may be related to an overall high faunal abundance or may suggest that these animals were especially prone to enter caves, perhaps in search of nutrients (as cave saltpetre) or water.

Terrestrial non-volant small mammals in agro-silvicultural landscapes of Southeastern Brazil

The area covered by Eucalyptus plantations is significantly increasing in Brazil for economic reasons. However, the impact of such land use change is still unknown. In this study we evaluated the spatial-temporal distribution and abundance of terrestrial non-volant small mammals on a recently converted landscape whose matrix is formed by Eucalyptus plantations up to 3 years of age. From August 2007 to July 2009 we carried out monthly sampling campaigns over a grid of 30 sampling units, formed by pitfall traps covering both the landscape matrix of Eucalyptus plantations (n = 18) and legal conservation areas of native vegetation (n = 7) and abandoned pastures (n = 5). A total of 1640 individuals from 14 species of the orders Didelphimorphia (4 spp.) and Rodentia (10 spp.) were captured. However, only three species of rodents (Olygorysomys flavescens, Oligoryzomys nigripes and Calomy tener) represented 81.8% of the total amount. Eucalyptus plantations had a lower species richness and abundance than the abandoned pasture and the remaining fragments of native vegetation. Although the present species are predominantly generalists, there is clear distinction among environments in terms of their species composition and relative abundance, which also present a pronounced time variation. The assemblage found in this study suggests that silvicultural landscapes still have some conservation value, with species that seem to be resident at the Eucalyptus plantations. Moreover, the presence of the native and abandoned pastures patches imbibed in the Eucalyptus plantation matrix may increase the carrying capacity of such a silvicultural system and these landscapes may play a role in maintaining local biodiversity. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.