Download Species Richness Hotspots for Non-Flying

Species Richness Hotspots for Non-Flying Mammals in the
Sooretama Biological Reserve, Espírito Santo, Brazil
Brandon LaBumbard (SUNY Oswego), Marcelo Mazzolli (UNIPLAC, Projeto Puma), Aliny Oliveira
(Projeto Puma), Ryan Laughlin (SUNY Oswego), Nicole VanDeuson (SUNY Oswego)
Introduction
Methods
Over the past century human encroachment over natural habitats has increased. The tropical
forest ecosystems have been encroached upon the most thus resulting in habitat fragmentation
and a loss of biodiversity. The Atlantic Rainforest is a species rich area that has been reduced by
more than 90% as a result of human activities (Myers et al., 2000). Species richness and diversity
are usually used to monitor the health of the ecosystem because if a habitat can harbor more of
the expected resident species then the overall health is expected to be higher (Cam et al., 2002).
Top predators provide essential roles for the sustainability of these ecosystems so monitoring their
populations also enables researchers to infer on the overall health of the ecosystem.
The expedition took place at the Sooretama Biological Reserve in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil
from July 16 to July 29, 2012. Field methods involved the daily surveying of 4km long trails to
record tracks, visual and vocal identification, and other signs left by local non-flying mammals.
Small mammal traps, track-traps, and camera traps were employed to record evidence of fauna.
The track-traps were placed approximately every 200m along the trail and each trap was about
1m wide and 2m long. A GPS loaded with a map of the reserve with coded cells was used in the
field so fauna could be recorded to the appropriate cells. The data was later compiled and sorted
for analysis of species richness of the sampled areas of the reserve. Species richness was
spatialized over the grid and categorized by color. The software employed for the analysis was
TrackMaker for mapping, Photoshop for editing, and Excel for the graphs and regression.
Projeto Puma, an NGO associated with the Universidade do Planalto Catarinense listed by the
IUCN Cat Specialist Group’s as a priority project (Nowell & Jackson, 1996), conduct research in one
of the few remaining intact patches of Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil, the Sooretama Biological
Reserve. The Sooretama Biological Reserve and surrounding forest constitute one of the largest
Atlantic Forest blocks north of Rio de Janeiro (Srbek-Araujo et al., 2009). The overall objective of
the research expedition is to survey the presence, relative abundance, species richness, and
distribution of threatened and endangered non-flying mammal species in this patch of Atlantic
Rainforest of Brazil.
Figure 2. The map to the left shows the Atlantic Rainforest of Espírito Santo, Brazil and the Sooretema Biological Reserve. The
map to the right shows the Hydrographic system with roads and trails in the REBIO. Source: ICMBIO.
Figure 3. The images show the methods of sampling: We used small mammal traps (Didelphis aurita), recorded tracks found
on the trails we surveyed, used track-traps to record tracks of passing animals (Panthera onca), and we used camera traps.
Figure 1. Images depict a Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyon thous) (left), a group picture of the Expedition team (middle), and a
Seven-banded armadillo (Dasypus septemcinctus) (right).
Results
Mammal Order Recordings at Sooretama Biological
Reserve, ES, Brazil
Sampling Effort and Species Diversity at Sooretama
Biological Reserve, ES, Brazil
y = 0.1706x + 1.108
Figure 6. The graph
shows the relationship
between the species
diversity we recorded
and the number of
times the quadrats
were resampled. We
found there to be no
correlation.
R² = 0.1281
4.5
4
3.5
Number of Resamples
We observed a total of 22 species over the course of the expedition that occurred in the Sooretama Biological Reserve. By using the
recorded data of sightings and tracks we were able to verify the species identity, however there were 3 species identifications we were
unable to distinguish apart as a result of species similarities. Species richness was greater in areas closer to a constant water source and
along the fringe of the reserve (Fig. 3). Richness at higher taxonomic level show that the order Carnivora had the highest species
richness, with 7 recorded species (Fig. 4). Species richness had no relationship with sampling effort by means of cell resampling (Fig. 5).
Sampling effort was such that no ‘new’ species were sampled in the last sampling occasion, but not enough to show a stabilized
asymptote (Fig. 6).
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0
8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Diversity
7
7
Species Curve at Sooretama Biological Reserve, ES,
Brazil
5
4
4
3
3
3
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
Mammal Order
Figure 4. Map of the sampled Grids showing which cells had the highest level of
species richness at Sooretama Biological Reserve, ES, Brazil.
Figure 5. This graph depicts the different orders of
mammals recorded at the reserve during the expedition.
Conclusion
References
Species richness was greater in areas closer to a constant
water source and along the fringe of the reserve. As this result
does not relate with sampling effort, i.e., areas with higher
sampling does not showed more species richness than the
ones highlighted, it can thus be inferred that the species
richness is not a result of a sampling artifact. During the
expedition there was a drought and many watercourses were
dry. This may explain the higher concentration of species along
main watercourses.
Cam, E., Nichols, J., Sauer, J., Hines, J. 2002. On the estimation of species richness
based on the accumulation of previously unrecorded species. Ecography
25: 102-108.
Chiarello, A. 1999. Effects of fragmentation of the Atlantic forest on mammal
communities in south-eastern Brazil. Biological Conservation 89: 71-82
Myers, N., Mittermeier, R., Mittermeier, C., Fonseca, G., Kent, J. 2000. Biodiversity
hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853-858.
Nowell, K., Jackson, P. 1996. Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan.
IUCN Publications, Cambridge, UK, 382 pp.
Srbek-Araujo, A., Scoss, L., Hirsch, A., Chiarello, A. 2009. Records of the giantarmadillo Priodontes maximus (Cingulata: Dasypodidae) in the Atlantic
Forest: are Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo the last strongholds of the
species? Zoologia 26 (3): 461-468.
Figure 7. The graph
shows the species
curve to estimate
when all the local
diversity will be
sampled. As shown,
higher diversity is
founds in the
beginning of the
sampling and as the
time increases the
diversity decreases.
6
5
Number of Species
Number of Species
6
4
3
2
1
0
0
2
4
6
8
10
Sampling Days
Acknowledgements
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