Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal‐central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation‐related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data.

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non‐detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non‐governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer‐reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non‐detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio‐temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large‐scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data.

Grasslands are characteristic physiognomies of the Brazilian Cerrado domain. One of last remnants of these threatened environments in the state of São Paulo is located in Itirapina Ecological Station, considered as an Important Bird Area (IBA). We investigated bird assemblages that use seasonally flooded grasslands, and predominantly dry grasslands, from August 2010 until July 2011. We focused on aspects of assemblage structure, and possible responses of birds to environmental changes. We recorded 76 species, of which 23.7% are threatened. Some basic aspects of assemblages were similar between environments, such as diversity descriptors, and the tendency of increase richness in the same periods. Other parameters differed between environments, such as absolute richness, recorded monthly (lower in seasonally flooded grasslands). Considering time dimension in analyses, we observed differences in assemblage structure over time, within and between environments. When birds were grouped in guilds, assemblage structure did also differ. We identified significant correlations between the abundance of some guilds and environmental variables. Changes in the availability of resources and microhabitats may affect structure and organization of the studied bird assemblages.

Grasslands are the most threatened physiognomies of the Cerrado biome (Brazilian savanna), a biodiversity hotspot with conservation as a priority. The Serra da Canastra National Park protects the most important remnants of the Cerrado's southern grasslands, which are under strong anthropogenic pressure. The present study describes the structure of bird assemblages that directly use food resources in burned areas, comparing areas affected by natural fi re to the areas where controlled fi res were set (a management strategy to combat arson). The tested null hypothesis was that different bird assemblages are structured in a similar manner, regardless of the post-fi re period or assessed area. Between December/2012 and January/2015, 92 species were recorded foraging in the study areas. The results indicate that both types of burnings triggered profound and immediate changes in bird assemblages, increasing the number of species and individuals. Natural fi res exhibited a more signifi cant infl uence on the structure (diversity and dominance) than prescribed burnings. Nevertheless, all the differences were no longer noticeable after a relatively short time interval of 2-3 months after prescribed burnings and 3-4 after natural fi res. The fi ndings may help the understanding of prescribed burnings as a management strategy for bird conservation in grasslands.

Inúmeras estratégias são utilizadas visando mitigar as ameaças à biodiversidade. A criação de unidades de conservação para preservação ambiental deveria ser concomitante à implantação destas estratégias, assim como em localidades onde o meio urbano encontra-se próximo a áreas de alta relevância ecológica. O presente trabalho coletou dados ecológicos sobre a avifauna da região de Cananéia, São Paulo, inserida no contexto dos ambientes costeiros estuarinos. Objetivamos oferecer análises sobre a observação de aves, as quais possam subsidiar a elaboração de planos de visitação em dois âmbitos: educação ambiental regional e ecoturismo como fonte de renda alternativa. Um total de 129 aves amostradas em uma semana de inverno, em diferentes ambientes, indica alta atratividade regional para observadores de aves. Cinco ambientes contribuíram com diversidade de maneiras distintas. Tais diferenças são evidenciadas tanto no tempo gasto para obtenção de listas de espécies, quanto nas singularidades das comunidades. Ambientes urbanos podem ser bem aproveitados em vista da facilidade espaço-temporal de registro de espécies, além da riqueza considerável, enquanto ambientes marinhos são mais atrativos devido às diferenças na comunidade observada. A restinga possui elementos presentes em outros ambientes, o que permite tempos curtos de permanência, ao passo que floresta e mangue, por exemplo, exigiriam maior investimento durante visitas. O contexto regional pode ser considerado ideal para ambas as atividades, reservando a cada uma considerações específicas quanto ao aproveitamento de determinados elementos ecológicos.

A new species of Mesosetum with a winged rachis, only known from Serra da Canastra, Minas Gerais, Brazil, is described and illustrated. The new species (Mesosetum canastrense) is morphologically similar to M. alatum, but it is distinguished mainly by the collar with a continuous line of trichomes (vs. absent or interrupted in M. alatum), synflorescences 6‒9(‒12) cm long (vs. 2.2‒3.2(‒7.5) cm long), pedicels with a truncate apex (vs. oblique), spikelets with the base surrounded by long appressed trichomes 0.8‒1.2 mm long (vs. glabrous or with short sparse trichomes ca. 0.2 mm long) and with an inconspicuous callus (vs. conspicuous and geniculate), and the lower anthecium neuter (vs. staminate or neuter). Additionally, the two species also differ in geographical distribution, since M. alatum only occurs in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.

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Birds play a key role in ecosystem dynamics, including urban and rural areas, bringing environmental quality improvements and ecological stability. Species contribute directly to natural regeneration of vegetation and succession processes, by offering ecosystem services as seed dispersal, an important role in human-modified areas. We studied the assemblages of fruit-eating birds in riparian environments of Monjolinho basin, central São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil. Birds were recorded in 41 points distributed in riparian ecosystems alongside waterbodies, in landscapes with five types of surrounding matrices: urban, periurban, farmland, and native vegetation. We described how assemblages are structured aiming to evaluate the possible influence of seasonality and landscape type. We recorded 39 bird species that can play a role as seed-dispersers, 32 in wet season and 32 in dry season. There were no significant differences in the diversity and dominance of species between seasons considering the entire area, indicating stability of basic assemblage structure. However, total number of individuals of all species recorded in different landscapes were influenced by seasonality. Also, the composition and abundance of species significantly changed between seasons, leading to a high dissimilarity with almost 50% of the species contributing with almost 90% of the observed variation. A higher taxonomic diversity and distinctness pointed to a wider array of possible seed dispersal services in natural areas, while the lowest values of indexes were found in human-modified areas. The higher number of non-related bird species during dry season contrasted with the higher number of individuals during wet season, indicating that there is more possible ecosystem services offered by frugivorous birds in driest period of the year, while in the rainy period the carrying capacity of the riparian environments was increased.