Avifauna, Alto do Palácio, Serra do Cipó National Park, state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

We surveyed the avifauna of Alto do Palácio, Serra do Cipó National Park, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. The park lies in the southern Espinhaço range, a significant biogeographical barrier that separates the forest areas of the Atlantic Forest on its eastern slope and the savanna-like vegetation of the Cerrado to its western slope. Representative habitats include open grasslands, with patches of rocky outcrops and woodlands. We recorded 151 species between 2007 and 2010. Most species occurred in woodlands, with the minority in rocky outcrops, eleven species are of conservation concern, nineteen are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, three to Cerrado, and four to the southeastern Brazilian mountaintops, two of which are restricted to campos rupestres of the Espinhaço range. Our results corroborate that the campos rupestres of the Espinhaço range are not only associated with the Cerrado biome, but harbor species associated with both surrounding biomes (Cerrado and Atlantic Forest) and to the mountaintops of southeastern Brazil, supporting the uniqueness of this vegetation type.

A new species of Cinclodes from the Espinhaço Range, southeastern Brazil: insights into the biogeographical history of the South American highlands

“…, Rodrigues et al . ). Due the absence of any C. espinhacensis population near this lodge and the bird's brief stay there, we considered the individual to be a possible vagrant.…”

“…, Vasconcelos & Rodrigues , Rodrigues et al . ), including the relatively recent discovery of three endemic bird species (Vielliard , Bornschein et al . , Gonzaga et al .…”

“…Understanding of Espinhaço birds has increased greatly in recent years (Melo-Júnior et al 2001, Vasconcelos et al 2008b, Vasconcelos & Rodrigues 2010. Many remarkable records have been made in the region , Mesquita et al 2008, Vasconcelos et al 2008a, Vasconcelos & Rodrigues 2010, Rodrigues et al 2011, including the relatively recent discovery of three endemic bird species (Vielliard 1990b, Bornschein et al 2007, Gonzaga et al 2007). These recent discoveries indicate that poorly surveyed areas still remain in the region that might provide additional surprises.…”

New insights on the rarity of the vulnerable Cinereous Warbling-finch (Aves, Emberizidae) based on density, home range, and habitat selection

“…This mountain range contains typical rocky fields vegetation (campos rupestres) in scattered quartzite outcrops, with thousands of endemic species (Giulietti et al, 1997). The annual mean rainfall is 1,500 mm (Rodrigues et al, 2011).…”

“…Records of this species are scarce in literature, limited to few individuals per site and isolated in time (mainly Ridgely and Tudor, 1989;Stotz et al, 1996;Simon et al, 1999;Vasconcelos et al, 1999, Ribon, 2002Vasconcelos and D'angelo Neto, 2007;Lopes et al 2010;Rodrigues et al, 2011;Rodrigues, 2012, 2013;Wischhoff et al, 2012). In fact, P. cinerea is poorly known, having a large gap in its basic biology information (Wischhoff et al, 2012), also being considered as data deficient in the Brazilian red list (Machado, 2005).…”