Predation on an adult male black capuchin monkey, Cebus nigritus (Goldfuss, 1809) by two domestic dogs was observed in the Parque Estadual Serra do Brigadeiro, in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Minas Gerais. Predation occurred in an area of well preserved native forest 800 m from the nearest forest edge. This is the first confirmed record of predation by domestic dogs in this reserve, yet data from a study in the same area indicates that the domestic dog is the most frequently recorded mammal species, which suggests that it is common in the area. The few published reports indicate that this problem occurs in other conservation units in Brazil and should, therefore, be treated with more rigor by the environmental agencies.
Cerrado and Atlantic Forest brazilian biomes are biodiversity hotspots that still have few areas under legal protection, especially on Minas Gerais State. Protected areas are essential to maintain environmental services, and it is necessary to know the fauna present and protected. With this aim, a medium and large sized mammal survey was conducted from January to December 2006 on two brazilian parks, trough tracks stations and active searches. These parks were Serra do Brigadeiro State Park (Atlantic Forest reserve) and Rio Preto State Park (Cerrado reserve), and had 19 and 23 species recorded, respectively. In total, 33 species were recorded and important discussions about their abundance and occurrences are presented. Relevant registers were obtained, and almost 18% of threatened mammalian fauna from Minas Gerais State were represented, highlighting the importance of protected areas.
Amphibians are suffering population declines around the world and the main causes are related to human activities, especially those involving direct habitat destruction. On the other hand, we are far behind in our knowledge of species distribution, natural history and even taxonomy. Some areas are under high levels of threat due to their economic relevance, as is the case for the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, a biodiverse area that is rich in iron deposits in the southernmost highlands of the Espinhaço Mountain Range, in southeastern Brazil. Using four lakes in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero as an example, we aimed to employ two approaches that we believe can improve short-term species inventories such as those needed to meet legal requirements for potentially impacting enterprises (e.g. mining). These approaches were (1) combination of tadpole and adult frog inventories and (2) regional contextualization of local species assemblages. We found adult frog and tadpole sampling to be complementary and representative of all anuran life stages. We also found the studied habitats to be considerably different from all other sampled habitats in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero (which also differed substantially among them). This high spatial heterogeneity could not be explained by geographic distance, even accounting for the effects of different types of bodies of water and sampling methods among sites. These findings have important conservation implications. Thorough inventories including both adult and tadpole stages are recommended for any new potentially destructive enterprise to be implemented in the Quadrilátero Ferrífero, because endemic species and unique anuran assemblages are likely to be lost.
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