Pequenos mamíferos não-voadores da Reserva Florestal do Morro Grande: distribuição das espécies e da diversidade em uma área de Mata Atlântica

Abstract

Non-volant small mammals, the most diverse ecological group of mammals in Neotropical forests, play an important role in forest dynamics and are good indicators of both local and landscape alterations. However, little is known about species and diversity distribution and only a few of the largest Atlantic Forest remnants have been adequately sampled. Based on a survey we carried out in the Morro Grande Forest Reserve, São Paulo State, and on other 20 Atlantic forest inventories, this study aims at (1) describing the non-volant small mammal list and community structure of the Reserve, (2) describing how species and diversity are distributed in space and time in the Reserve and (3) investigating how diversity is affected by capture methods. The non-volant small mammal fauna of the Reserve includes several rare and mature forest species, besides common species from genera that are usually abundant in other well preserved forests. The total number of species is high, in part due to the use of large pitfall traps in the sampling protocol, but also probably due to the Reserve location and altitude. The additive partitioning of diversity indicates that a major part of diversity is found locally in sample sites, a second part among sample sites within the same habitat type and just a minor part among habitats, suggesting the importance of micro-scale forest heterogeneity to the distribution of non-volant small mammals. Abundance and richness did not vary between the two sampled years and it is possible that continuous forest areas may present more temporally stable populations and communities. However, they varied seasonally, with high values found at the end of the wet season and low values at the end of the dry season. Pitfall traps showed to be extremely efficient for capturing non-volant small mammals. Atlantic forest, inventories, non-volant small mammals, diversity patterns, sampling methods, additive partitioning, inter-annual variations, seasonal variations, spatial variations, habitat Key words:

Diversity of small land mammals in a subtropical Atlantic forest in the western region of the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil

“…In addition, the sample area is not protected under a conservation unit. Pardini & Umetsu (2006) provided a summary of 20 surveys of small mammals in Atlantic Forest fragments representing an area greater than 700 ha; however, only two of these studies (Bonvicino et al 1997 andPardini &Umetsu 2006) found richness equal to or greater than that reported here. In a study near the Paranapiacaba ecological continuum, Leiner & Silva (2012) caught 20 species of small nonvolant mammals in one of the largest regions of Atlantic forest (due to the presence of four conservation units).…”

“…Despite the high richness found in the area, the fragment sampled is small compared to other sampled areas in the biome (Galiano et al 2013, Pardini & Umetsu 2006, Geise et al 2004, Grelle 2003. In addition, the sample area is not protected under a conservation unit.…”

“…Pardini & Umetsu (2006) reported one of the largest numbers of species in the biome (n=23) in Cotia (São Paulo state) by a study using both pitfall traps as cages. Cotia is mostly covered by vegetation classified as dense mountain ombrophilous forest (Metzger et al 2006).…”

“…Small terrestrial mammals (both rodents and marsupials), characterized here as those that weigh less than 1 kg in average (Fonseca et al 1996), are important numerically and possess features that significantly influence the dynamics of ecosystems (Pardini & Umetsu 2006). They are important predators of insects, consume fruits, disperse seeds (Carvalho et al 1999) and fungal spores (Pyare & Longland 2001) as well as participate in the cycle of various zoonoses that affect man (Bonecker et al 2009, Pinto et al 2009).…”

“…The richness of small land mammals, as with most animal groups, is remarkable in this region (Galindo-Leal & Câmara 2003). There are approximately 100 species of small marsupials and rodents spread throughout the biome (Bonvicino et al 2002, Pardini & Umetsu 2006, Pinto et al 2009, Paglia et al 2012. Despite the increasing number of studies in this biome, some regions remain poorly sampled.…”