Importance of riparian corridors for the fauna: small mammals in forest patches, surrounding matrix and linear elements in an Atlantic forest fragmented landscape / Importância dos corredores ripários para a fauna - pequenos mamíferos em manchas de floresta, matriz do entorno e elementos lineares em uma paisagem fragmentada de Mata Atlântica

AUTOR(ES)

Laura Regina Capelari Naxara

DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2008

RESUMO

This master thesis aimed to evaluate the importance of riparian corridors for the fauna in an Atlantic Forest fragmented landscape. In four systems composed by fragment corridor fragment, we evaluate both the small mammal assemblage (chapter 2) and the habitat quality measured through the vegetation structure and food resources availability for the fauna (chapter 3). In chapter 2 we compared small mammal assemblages among open areas of the surrounding matrix, riparian corridors, edges and interiors of forest fragments. We verified a strong segregation in species distribution between the open matrix and the forested habitats. Endemic species were captured only in forested habitats, while the open areas of the matrix harbored a small mammals assemblage composed exclusively by species non-endemic to the Atlantic Forest biome, and only two non-endemic species occupied all habitat types. We also observed that temporal fluctuations in species abundance did not differ among habitats, that is, observed differences in species distribution were not dependent on capture session. Moreover, richness and abundance of endemic species were higher in forested habitats than in the open areas of matrix, while the abundance of nonendemic species was higher in the matrix than in the interior of forest fragments. The two most abundant endemic species occurred only in forested habitats and their abundance was lower at edges compared to forest interiors and, for one of them, also compared to riparian corridors. On the other hand, the abundance of one of the three most common non-endemic species was higher at edges than in interiors. We conclude that riparian corridors function as a connector element for the endemic small mammals of the Atlantic Forest, minimizing the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation. In chapter 3, through the evaluation of habitat quality in riparian corridors, edges and interiors of second-growth fragments, we observed that food resource availability (arthropods and fruits) for the fauna, as well as the vegetation structure, measured as foliage vertical stratification, did not differ among the three forested habitats. Thus, our results suggest that, contrary to the observed in primary tropical forests, there is no clear edge effects on vegetation structure or on food resources availability for the fauna in secondary forest fragments even in linear habitats such as corridors. The results reported in these two chapters highlight the importance of the maintenance of riparian corridors for the conservation, in fragmented landscapes of the Atlantic Forest, of one of the most diverse group of mammals.

ASSUNTO(S)

edge effect pequenos mamíferos riparian corridors fragmentation small mammals conservação corredores ripários conservation efeito de borda fragmentação

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