Bird communities in two fragments of Cerrado in Itirapina, Brazil

Abstract

The Cerrado domain is a mosaic of vegetation types at the local scale, and this environmental heterogeneity leads to high regional bird diversity. Therefore, we aimed to survey quantitative and qualitatively the bird fauna of two fragments of Cerrado and to compare them with an adjacent protected area (Estação Ecológica de Itirapina), in order to assess the heterogeneity of bird diversity in the region. The present study was conducted during 12 months from October 2006 to September 2007 in the municipality of Itirapina, Southeastern Brazil. Altogether we recorded 210 bird species. Fifty-six of them had never been detected in Estação Ecológica de Itirapina, and eleven species are new records for the whole Itirapina region. The list also includes six species that are endangered in Sao Paulo State and five endemic species of the Cerrado domain. Most species were recorded in less than 50% of the visits and exhibited low relative abundance. Primarily insectivorous species were the most common, followed by omnivores. Frugivorous birds were poorly represented. Carnivores were more abundant than usually observed in fragments. The similarity among fragments was higher than between fragments and the protected area. Considering the vegetation heterogeneity in the Cerrado domain, our results reinforce the importance of conserving fragments in order to sample this diversity.Keywords: avifauna, forest fragmentation, environmental heterogeneity. Comunidades de aves em dois fragmentos de Cerrado em Itirapina, BrasilResumo O mosaico de tipos vegetacionais que formam o Cerrado contribui para a alta diversidade de aves deste domínio. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo principal realizar os levantamentos qualitativo e quantitativo da avifauna de dois fragmentos de Cerrado e compará-los aos resultados encontrados em uma área adjacente de Cerrado (Estação Ecológica de Itirapina). O trabalho foi realizado entre outubro de 2006 e setembro de 2007, no município de Itirapina, região central do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Registramos um total de 210 espécies de aves. Destas, 56 ainda não haviam sido registradas na Estação Ecológica e onze espécies são novos registros para a região de Itirapina. A lista dos fragmentos inclui seis espécies ameaçadas no Estado de São Paulo e cinco espécies endêmicas de Cerrado. A maioria das espécies foi detectada em menos de 50% das visitas e apresentou baixa abundância relativa. A classificação em categorias tróficas indicou a prevalência de espécies predominantemente insetívoras, seguidas pelas onívoras. Os frugívoros foram pouco representados e a quantidade de carnívoros foi superior à geralmente encontrada em fragmentos. A similaridade encontrada entre os fragmentos foi maior que a encontrada entre os fragmentos e Estação Ecológica. Os resultados reforçam a importância da conservação dos fragmentos de Cerrado, uma vez que a heterogeneidade de tipos vegetacionais é importante para a conservação da biodiversidade local.Palavras-chave: avifauna, fragmentação florestal, heterogeneidade ambiental.

Bird richness and composition in a Cerrado fragment in the State of São Paulo

“…Twenty years ago, in 4 hours of observation, Willis and Oniki (2003) found 89 species at Fazenda Canchim, in cerrado fragment and semideciduous forest. Other previous studies found 214 bird species in the campus of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos in 9 years of study (Motta-Junior and Vasconcellos, 1996), 302 in Estações Ecológicas de Jataí e Experimental de Luis Antônio in 13 years (Dias, 2000), 231 in Estação Ecológica de Itirapina in 21 years (Willis, 2004) and in 9 years (Motta-Junior et al, 2008), 144 species in Parque Estadual de Vassununga in 1 year (Develey et al, 2005) and 158 and 201 species in two fragments in Estação Experimental de Itirapina in 15 months (Telles and Dias, 2010). In addition, it is important to notice that RL-CPPSE is one of the larger remnants in the region (Primavesi et al, 1999) and could be suitable as a natural corridor or habitat and food source for birds.…”

Yeasts and filamentous fungi in psittacidae and birds of prey droppings in midwest region of Brazil: a potential hazard to human health

“…This biome has specific and diverse wildlife, with many species on display for visitors to the zoo of the Federal University of Mato Grosso. Considering the variety of birds found in the Brazilian fauna in the Cerrado (Manica et al, 2010;Telles and Dias, 2010) and Pantanal (Figueira et al, 2006), we were surprised that our review of the literature uncovered no reports of studies involving the fungal microbiota from droppings of the species assessed in this work. This fact hinders detailed comparison of the results obtained, since to our knowledge, this is the first work specifically assessing birds of the biome Cerrado (Savannah) and Pantanal in Mato Grosso.…”

Habitat heterogeneity and climatic seasonality structure the avifauna trophic guilds in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland

“…The Pantanal birds probably behave like those of Doñana wetland, Spain, redistributing themselves inside the landscape mosaic when searching for alternative or complementary feeding sites (Rendón et al 2008). The common trophic guilds, such as TIP, TI, and TP, found on different habitats, such as in forests and the cerrado, can be accounted for by a large number of common species, resembling those described for some Brazilian Cerrado and Atlantic forest fragments (e.g., Giraudo et al 2008;Telles and Dias 2010). Pastures Tables 1 and 2. and flooded fields comprise the transition habitats between the cerrado and forests and the aquatic habitats.…”