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This paper presents a first account of the salão vegetation of southwestern Amazonia, a frequent but poorly known formation and unusual in that it is a lowland moist tropical environment in which virtually all of the plant diversity is accounted for by herbs. The salões occur along canalized portions of the Purus and Juruáriver basins, and their substrates consist of exposed parent materials that characterize much of this sector of Amazonia but are usually overlain by a relatively thin (<1 m) layer of soil. They are constantly moist seeps or ‘seepage banks,’ and the lower portions are seasonally submerged. Strata are recognizable in the vegetation, and the physiognomy and composition of each vegetation band of the salões is likely determined by the slope, the parent material, and (for lower bands) the duration of flooding. To date the salão flora has registered 66 species: 11 bryophytes, 12 ferns, and 43 angiosperms. Five of the bryophyte species, two ferns, and one grass, Arundinella berteroniana, are found in most if not all salões and can be considered indicators of this vegetation type, while most of the pteridophytes and other angiosperms occur more sporadically. None of the species is endemic to the formation and only four to the region; most are associated generally with the margins of rivers, lakes, and streams, often on rocky or sandy substrates. The floristic and conservation significance of this formation lie in its apparent affinities with montane regions, in the fact that 21 species and eight genera are recorded for the Acre flora only from the salões, and in its local value as a source of filtered potable water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fire is frequently used as tool for land management in the Amazon, but often escapes into surrounding forests, with potentially severe impacts for forest biodiversity. We investigated the effects of single wildfires on ant communities in four geographically distinct regions of the Brazilian Amazon (Roraima, Pará, Acre and Mato Grosso) where forests had burned between 8 months and 10 years before our sampling. We established 7-12 transects, 500 m each, in burned and unburned forests in each region to investigate the effects of fire on forest structure and leaf litter ant communities, which were sampled using Winkler sacks. Fire effects on forest structure were more drastic in the most recently burned forests in Acre and Mato Grosso, while the impacts of older burns in Roraima and Pará were more subtle. Ant species richness was not different between burnt and unburned areas, but community composition differed between burned and control forests in all regions except Mato Grosso. At the species level, indicator species analysis showed that a limited number of species were significant indicators of unburned control forests in all regions, except Acre. Forests structure variables and leaf litter volume were all important in shaping ant communities, but their relative importance varied between regions. Our results indicate that burned forest have different ant species communities from unburned forests, and those differences are still apparent 10 years after the disturbance, highlighting the importance of effective policies for fire management in Amazon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first to present a quantitative survey of bird species occurring in the archipelago of Anavilhanas, located in the Rio Negro in the Brazilian Amazon and is part of the Anavilhanas Ecological Station. We asked whether bird community composition is similar among the islands, and between islands and areas dominated by the surrounding upland terra firme forest on the left (east) margin of the Rio Negro. The surveys were conducted in November and December of 1988, using two complementary methods with mist nets and boat transects. A total of 232 bird species was found for Anavilhanas including a survey done in 1998. The families Tyrannidae and Thamnophilidae showed the highest number of species (16.4% and 9.0% of the total respectively). Some species not well known or having limited distributions are relatively frequently encountered in the archipelago, such as Spizastur melanoleucus, Mitu tomentosa, Phaethornis rupurumii, Xiphorhynchus kienerii, Thamnophilus nigrocinereus, Myrmotherula klagesi, Myrmoborus lugubris, Pipra filicauda, and Cephalopterus ornatus. Hybrid Multidimensional Scaling (HMDS) ordination analysis indicated that the bird community composition is similar among islands. However, the bird community composition on the islands was significantly different from that in sites of terra firme forest at Rio Negro margins. Anavilhanas is a unique ecological system in the Amazon and has it own avifauna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]