The northwestern portion of the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest ecoregion is one of the most disturbed and fragmented areas in the Atlantic Forest, and little is known about the local avifauna. In this study, we have described the composition and diversity of the aquatic avifauna of this region and analyzed the patterns of similarity with respect to the seasonal as well as spatial distribution. We used the line transect sampling technique in six distinct humid areas (including lentic and lotic water bodies) during the dry and rainy seasons of 2012 and 2013. A total of 52 species of waterfowl were recorded. The species richness of the studied areas was surprisingly distinct; only seven waterfowl species, namely Cairina moschata (Linnaeus, 1758), Tigrisoma lineatum (Boddaert, 1783), Rosthramus sociabilis (Vieillot, 1817), Aramus guarauna (Linnaeus, 1766), Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782), Jacana jacana (Linnaeus, 1766), and Arundinicola leucocephala (Linnaeus, 1764), were common to these six studied areas. This indicated that the other bird species that were observed might be habitat selective. Moreover, the analysis of the composition of birds in the two seasons (dry and rainy) combined with their spatial distributions showed significant dissimilarities between the areas with lotic (river and constructed wetland) and lentic (lagoons) characteristics. Nevertheless, despite the small extent and low total richness of the entire study area, it was found to be home to 1/3 of all freshwater aquatic birds documented in the state of São Paulo, with the record of 5 migratory species and 11 new species added to the northwest of the state. The heterogeneity of local aquatic environments, habitat selection combined with seasonality, and the absence of other humid locations in the surroundings can explain the diversity and distribution of these birds in the water bodies of this uninvestigated Atlantic Forest ecoregion.
The growing demand for wood is being supplied through homogeneous forest plantations. However, large tracts of land cultivated with a single species are susceptible to insect pest attacks. Termites are one such insect pest, capable of destroying the root system of plants and harming their developments. The objective of the present study was to know the diversity of subterranean termites present in Eucalyptus urograndis (Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake x Eucalyptus grandis Hill ex Maiden: Myrtaceae), Tectona grandis L.f.: (Lamiaceae) and Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bonpl. (Lecythidaceae) and Hevea brasiliensis (Willd. ex A. Juss.) Müll.Arg. (Euphorbiaceae) consortium, in Alta Floresta -MT state, and to verify the spatial distribution of termites in these locations and the influence of edaphic conditions on the diversity of termites in these areas. The survey used traps of corrugated cardboard, which were removed after 30 days and their individuals counted and identified. The soil was collected from the sampled plantations to test for any correlation that may exist between the edaphic variables and the species found. A total of 14,61 individual termites were collected, representing five termite species, the most commonly occurring species was Heterotermes tenuis (Hagen) (12,802 specimens). The spatial distribution of all species was aggregated. Most of the attacked traps were class 2 (between 101 and 500 termites collected), and correlation showed significance only between the factor clay x H. tenuis. The diversity of termites in the plantations is composed of five species, the aggregate distribution indicates preference for the most favorable areas of the environment and higher occurrence of H. tenuis in clay soils.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.