The importance of isolated patches for maintaining local bird biodiversity and ecosystem function: a case study from the Pernambuco Center of Endemism, Northeast Brazil

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest has been highly fragmented, with the Pernambuco Center of Endemism (PCE) one of the priority areas for conservation. The Mata do Cedro forest, located in Alagoas state, northeastern Brazil, is a forest fragment within the PCE surrounded by a matrix of sugarcane that acts as a refuge for several threatened bird species, some of which are endemic to the region. Here, we characterize the bird community in Mata do Cedro using measures of species abundance, frequency of occurrence, habitat use and sensitivity to human disturbance. The functional role of species was investigated with a functional dendrogram. We registered 111 species, most resident and forest dependent. The most representative trophic categories were insectivores followed by frugivores. Of the species found, 11 are highly sensitive to human disturbances and 11 are endemic to the PCE. The bird community of the fragment is highly diversified, with endemic taxa and balanced trophic categories typical of preserved tropical forests. This community structure together with the occurrence of threatened species reinforces the importance of Mata do Cedro for the maintenance of local biodiversity and ecosystem functions.

Correlates of plant β-diversity in Atlantic Forest patches in the Pernambuco Endemism Centre, Northeastern Brazil

“…This result may be related to the limited interchanging of seeds (and species) between forest patches, which is observed between more distant sites (Condit et al 2002;Myers et al 2013). Indeed, a lack of potenseed dispersers could enhance the turnover between more distant sites, although in our study site there is still a large number of birds and terrestrial mammals which may be able to carry seeds between the forest patches (Lobo-Araújo et al 2013;Mendes Pontes et al 2016;Pereira et al 2016;Campos et al 2018;Garbino et al 2018). The effect of geographical distance on species turnover is also explained by the fact that distant areas will likely have more contrasting environmental (e.g., soil, climate, topography) and anthropogenic (e.g., different disturbance regimes) contexts which will affect floristic composition (Pyke et al 2001;Arroyo-Rodríguez et al 2013;Garibaldi et al 2014).…”

An annotated avian inventory of the Brazilian state of Alagoas, one of the world’s most threatened avifauna

“…Also, since 2010 researchers from the Laboratório de Bioecologia e Conservação de Aves Neotropicais (LABECAN) at the Federal University of Alagoas (UFAL) have been monitoring birds in the largest forest fragment of the Murici Ecological Station, and birds collected therein have been deposited at the Museu de História Natural da UFAL (MHNAL), in Maceió. Results from these 1999-2020 expeditions have served as the basis for a number of studies (e.g., Silveira & Olmos, 2003;Silveira et al, 2003a, b;Dénes et al, 2011;Batalha-Filho et al, 2013Lobo-Araújo et al, 2013;Pereira et al, 2014bPereira et al, , 2019aRêgo et al, 2014;Thom & Aleixo, 2015;Tonetti et al, 2017;Campos et al, 2018;Bolívar-Leguizamón et al, 2020;Harvey et al, 2020;Bocalini et al, 2021;Carvalho et al, 2021;Dickens et al, 2021;Francisco et al, 2021;Gonçalves & Efe, 2022). The number of ornithological surveys (e.g., Cabral et al, 2006;Araujo & Rodrigues, 2011;Lyra-Neves et al, 2012;Portes et al, 2018); many notes on specific records for the state have also been published (e.g., Silva e Silva, 1996;Olmos, 2002;Sousa et al, 2005;Mestre, 2007;Lobo-Araújo et al, 2008;Patrial et al, 2011;Pereira et al, 2012;Leal et al, 2013) and birdwatchers have also been producing many new records for the state (WikiAves, 2021).…”