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We investigated the species richness, endemism, and similarity of the bryoflora (mosses and liverworts) on five Brazilian Amazon mountains (four Tepuis and one rocky outcrop), to determine the floristic relationships between them using presence/absence matrix. Cluster analysis based on the Jaccard index was used to determine similarities between the plant assemblages in five areas. We also performed a principal component analysis to determine which abiotic variables best explained the variations between those mountains. We surveyed the bryophyte species on each of the five mountains to identify the diversity of mosses and liverworts and to answer to the following questions: (1) How many bryophyte species are there in total area (gama diversity) and on each mountain (alpha diversity)? (2) Do mosses and liverworts share patterns of diversity? (3) Can patterns of alpha diversity be used to predict patterns of beta diversity? (4) What are the species distribution patterns? (5) How many endemic species are there in the mountains? and, (6) Is there high similarity among those bryophyte floras? We encountered 425 species, 144 genera, and 51 families of bryophytes, with Lejeuneaceae and Lepidoziaceae being the richest families. A considerable number of floristic novelties were encountered: 18 species new to Brazil; 39 species new to northern Brazil; 21 species new to Amazonas State; and 2 species new to science and only recently described. Over 43% of the bryophytes have a tropical America distribution, approximately 7% are Pantropical, 6.5% are Afro-American, and 3% are endemic to Brazil (6 liverworts and 6 mosses), and 6% are widespread globally. We present a checklist of 425 bryophyte species (144 genera and 51 families) of which 12 are endemic. Patterns of endemism of the bryophyte flora on the Tepuis differ from those exhibited by angiosperms (in the latter three times higher). Thirty-nine of these species were new for the Amazonia domain in Brazil, increasing by 7% the previous total of Amazonian recorded species. The similarity between sites was low, ranging from 3 to 25%. PCA analysis showed temperature variables explaining the greater part of the variance (76.6%) between the mountains. Our results demonstrate that patterns of alpha diversity cannot be used to predict patterns of beta diversity. This paper represents the first evaluation of bryophytes on five Brazilian Amazon mountains, giving insight into their species richness, endemism, and similarity, and providing baseline information for analyzing species' turnover rates, migration, invasion events, etc. These results also represent an increase in our general knowledge of the Brazilian bryoflora and are relevant to the conservation of bryophyte diversity in the Amazon forest, and represent a contribution toward the targets of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wildlife of the Brazilian Cerrado is threatened by large-scale habitat loss, in particular due to conversion to agricultural land. It is essential to study how the mammal fauna copes with the highly fragmented, human-influenced, non-protected landscape. The paper presents the results of a survey of the large to mediumsized mammals of a typical cattle ranch with a mixture of human-created and natural vegetation types. We recorded 18 species. Surprisingly, several species were found to still thrive in the area, however, many species are rare or have become extinct. We conclude the paper with comments relevant for the conservation of mammals in the Cerrado as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a survey of arthropods in rice-growing areas of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, undertaken to identify the main groups of insect pests and their natural enemies present in three producing regions during the stages of crop development. The study was conducted during the crop years 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 in the municipalities of Cachoeira do Sul, Eldorado do Sul and Capivari do Sul. A total of 44,231 arthropods were collected: 26,821 in 2007/2008 and 17,410 in 2008/2009. Spatial and temporal patterns were analyzed utilizing the 28 principal families and applying the Morisita-Horn coefficient and the Detrended Correspondence Analysis (DCA). Both results demonstrated variances of abundance and richness from 1 year to the next in the evaluated areas. The results indicate that the arthropod communities in southern Brazilian rice crop agro-ecosystems are formed of a few families with high abundance and a large number of other smaller families. Among the phytophagous arthropods found, Pentatomidae, Orthoptera and planthoppers were predominant while the natural enemies were mainly predatory mites, spiders, Hymenoptera and Odonata. This study demonstrates that irrigated rice fields located in subtropical areas of the Brazilian South sustain a great variety of arthropods which facilitate studies on bio-diversity conservation and the development of sustainable management of the pests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

recent debate has contrasted two conservation strategies in agricultural landscapes; either 'land sparing' farm development combining intensive production practices with forest set-asides, or 'wildlife-friendly' farming with greater on-farm habitat value but lower yields. We argue that in established mosaic landscapes including old cacao production regions where natural forest has already been reduced to relatively small fragments, a combination of both strategies is needed to conserve biodiversity. After reviewing the evidence for the insufficiency of either strategy alone if applied to such landscapes, the paper focuses on the cacao production landscape of southern Bahia, Brazil, once the world's second largest cacao producer. Here, small remaining areas of Atlantic Forest are embedded in a matrix dominated by traditional cacao agroforests, resulting in a landscape mosaic that has proven favorable to the conservation of the region's high biodiversity. We show that current land use dynamics and public policies pose threats but also offer opportunities to conservation and describe a three-pronged landscape conservation strategy, consisting of (i) expansion of the protected areas system, (ii) promotion of productive yet biodiversity-friendly cacao farming practices, and (iii) assistance to land users to implement legally mandated on-farm reserves and voluntary private reserves. We discuss recent experiences concerning the implementation of this strategy, discuss likely future scenarios, and reflect on the applicability of the Bahian experience to biodiversity rich cacao production regions elsewhere in the tropics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild animals have been a source of food and income through subsistence hunting by forest-dwelling people in Neotropical countries in spite of the fact that hunting appears to be unsustainable as it leads to the depletion of wild fauna. Laws in Brazil and other Latin American countries forbid hunting but allow the commercial use of captive-bred animals. Notwithstanding the fact that this is a controversial topic among conservationists, in this paper we propose that wildlife farming in the Neotropics can be an alternative to the over-hunting and deforestation that are carried out for the production of traditional food and pastures for livestock. This review sets out this proposal, and discusses the implications for tropical forest integrity and rural population dependency on forest resources. We discuss the ecological and economical advantages of wildlife farming and its constraints as a conservation tool, using collared peccary ( Pecari tajacu) farming in the Amazon region as a model. Productivity levels may reach 19,000 times higher than those obtained from the management of peccaries from forests in the Amazon region. This can be achieved with an easily obtainable diet composed of forest fruits and locally available agricultural by-products. Therefore, establishing captive management programs for peccaries is an effective way of avoiding wild stock depletion, deforestation, and guaranteeing the livelihood of forest dwellers in the Neotropics. However, it is essential that governmental and/or non-governmental agencies be involved in providing subsides to establish peccary farms, provide technical assistance, and introducing peccary captive breeding centers to supply founder stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dolphin/whale watching activity represents the major source of income to many local communities, however many studies describe negative effects of this activity on animals' normal behavior. In this paper we describe a behavioral analysis of estuarine dolphins (Sotalia guianensis), proximity pattern and breathing synchrony during the first year after the delimitation of a coastal reserve and enforcement of rules to control boat traffic at southern Rio Grande do Norte (Brazil). Different from studies conducted before the delimitation of the coastal reserve, our results show that forage behavior did not decrease and overall activity budget did not change in the presence of boats, although animals would still increase proximity and breathing synchrony during the first semester. We conclude that simple rules for control of boat traffic are effective in minimizing the short term negative impacts on dolphins. However, the enforcement of common rules is a difficult compromise between community needs and vulnerability of dolphin populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a quantitative inventory of woody plants with DBH ≥ 5 cm in Turvo State park, a large remnant (17,500 ha) of seasonal deciduous Atlantic forest in Southern Brazil. The forest inventory was based on 141 sampling points (point centered quarter method). Seventy-eight species from 37 families were recorded, the density was 879 plants ha-1 and the basal area 25.12 m² ha-1. Timber species of commercial value made up 35% of the species and 72% of the basal area. The ten most abundant species made up 52% of the species, and the ten species with highest basal area accounted for 48% of the total basal area and 12% of the species. Zoochory was the dominant mode of seed dispersal, representing 63% of species and 67% of the plant density. Nine percent of the species were pioneers, 56% were secondary species accounting for 62% of the total basal area, and 35% were opportunistic-climax species accounting for 54% of the plant density. Turvo park has exceptionally high biodiversity and is the last intact large remnant of the Alto-Uruguai river ecosystem. In addition to species richness and an abundance of high value timber species, this forest is of value for the rich genetic resources, and for medicinal and ornamental plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies about processes determining biodiversity in Pantanal are urgently needed and the use of invertebrates for this purpose may be an efficient tool. The purpose of this paper is to verify whether ants could be used to predict human impacts on Pantanal, assessing how environmental characteristics of gallery forest influence arboreal ant species richness. Specifically, we tested the hypotheses that: (i) resource availability (estimated by tree density) and (ii) diversity of environmental conditions (estimated by structural heterogeneity) positively influence arboreal ant species richness and composition. Ants were sampled in a gallery forest in the Miranda River. Ant species richness did not respond to tree density, but increased with structural heterogeneity. Species composition was affected both by tree density and structural heterogeneity. The species list produced in the present study showed a high similarity between arboreal ant faunas of Cerrado and Pantanal, which are contiguous biomes. The relationship of ant species richness with heterogeneity, as well as the observed changes of species composition with tree density and heterogeneity may be explained by the presence of a variation of environmental conditions, which create several micro-habitats in the forest. The response of the ant community can reflect human impacts on the forests of the studied region, which are usually modified to create patches for sport fishing and by pathways used in ecotourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we tested four hypotheses relative to edge and shape effects on ant communities: (i) forest edges have lower species richness than the remnant core; (ii) species richness increases with distance from the edge; (iii) irregularly shaped remnants have lower species richness than more regular remnants; (iv) there is a higher similarity of species composition between edge and core in irregular than in regular remnants. We sampled litter ant communities on the edge and core of ten remnants, in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Species richness was larger at the forest core than at the edges, although did not increase with distance from the edge. Species richness did not vary with shape complexity. The similarity of species composition between edge and core showed a decreasing trend with remnant area, and did not vary with shape complexity. The observed differences of species richness between forest core and edge may be due to higher harshness of edges, caused by environmental changes. The absence of relationship between species richness and distance from the edge might indicate the range of edge effects, which would be smaller than the smallest distance of core sampled. Therefore, edges would affect litter-dwelling ant species richness in a distance smaller than 50 m. The observation of species composition allowed us to notice an effect of fragmentation that would not be noticed if we were considering only species richness. Edge may serve as step to generalist species, which may use it to colonise forest remnants. Furthermore, small remnants are more colonisation-prone by such species, and have a more homogeneous species composition than large remnants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) is threatened by large-scale habitat loss, in particular due to conversion to agricultural land. This is the first published study on maned wolf density and the first test of individual identification from camera-trap photographs. We present results from two Brazilian regions: the Cerrado and the Pantanal. Using capture-recapture analysis of camera-trap data, we estimated densities per 100 square kilometers of 3.64 ± 0.77 individuals at the Cerrado site and 1.56 ± 0.77 individuals at the Pantanal site. Parallel radio-telemetry studies at the Pantanal site showed that maned wolves occupied home ranges of 39-58 km2 (mean = 50.3 ± 7.67 km2). Our study in the Cerrado took place in a private farm with a mixture of agricultural land and native habitats, representative of the majority of the present-day Cerrado. Whereas many other mammalian species have suffered in the region, our results show that the maned wolf may cope better with this highly fragmented landscape than one might have feared. Finally, the paper briefly compares maned wolf density with density of puma (Puma concolor) in the Pantanal site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parrots are the most threatened group of birds in the world, mainly because of the reduction and fragmentation of their natural habitats. However, few studies have investigated the dynamics of parrot populations in disturbed landscapes on a broad scale. In this paper, we studied the ecological interactions of the vulnerable blue-winged macaw (Primolius maracana) in a fragmented landscape surrounding a large protected park in southeastern Brazil. We sampled 36 forest fragments that varied in size, characteristics, degree of isolation and type of surrounding matrix in order to assess the importance of habitat features on the maintenance of these birds. Blue-winged macaws were recorded in 70% of the satellite remnants that were sampled, which included large and small blocks of forest. These areas were used as sites for feeding, nesting or overnight rests, and also provided connectivity for birds' displacements. However, the frequency of macaw visits varied among the remnants, and this was related to habitat features such as patch size, human use of surrounding land, and the proximity to the protected park, to urban areas and to the birds' roosting areas. In general, landscape-scale parameters explained more of the variation in the frequency of visits by macaws than did patch-scale parameters. These results demonstrate the importance of landscape mosaics for the survival of blue-winged macaws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing rates of declines in anuran populations worldwide are creating demands for urgent strategies to maximize conservation efforts. This may be critical in regions for which few detailed data on diversity, abundance and distribution are available, such as in the Cerrado of Central Brazil. In this paper, we used a macroecological approach based on the extent of occurrence of 131 species of Anura (Amphibia) in the Cerrado region to design a regional network of potential areas that preserves all anuran species. The final network, obtained using a simulation annealing algorithm based on complementarity, has a total of 17 cells, widely distributed throughout the biome. Minimum costs solutions were obtained in respect to total human population size, soybean production and bovine density, because these are the factors associated with human occupation that historically are more likely to cause broad scale habitat losses. The macro-scale approach used here can provide overall guidelines for conservation and define the focus for more local and effective conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper was to analyze the diversity patterns of Cactaceae at a global scale, to identify those countries where conservation actions should be performed. In order to do this, the species richness and the number of endemic species for 34 American countries were determined. With these data, the relationship between the total number of species or the number of endemic species and the area of the countries were analyzed. In addition, a complementarity analysis was conducted to determine the most important countries for cactus conservation. Results showed that Mexico had the highest number of total and endemic species followed by Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru, among others. There was a significant positive relationship between both, the total and endemic species, and the area of the countries. Despite this fact, the cactus diversity in Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Costa Rica was higher than expected according to their area. Further, these countries also presented the highest proportions of endemic species. The complementarity analysis indicated that 24 countries are necessary to preserve all cactus species. However, 94% of all species could be preserved with only 10 countries. Considering the diversity patterns and the complementarity analysis, three important groups for cactus conservation were identified: (1) Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Costa Rica, (2) Paraguay and Cuba, and (3) Brazil and USA. Conservation efforts should be focused on these countries in order to preserve cactus diversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Cerrado savannas from Brazil fire events are common and strongly influence the vegetation structure and, consequently, the associated small mammals. In this paper, we investigate changes in the structure of small mammal communities related to sites of different post-fire ages. Mammals were captured in similar Cerrado sites that differed in time since the last burn (1 to 26 yr). We sampled six sites in the wet season of 1997 (phase 1) and, three years later, six sites in the wet and dry seasons (phase 2). Six rodent species and four marsupials were captured. Community composition changed drastically as a function of time since fire. The diversity and abundance of small mammals reached maximum values in the early successional stages. The rodent Calomys tener was present only in early seral stages. The rodent Bolomys lasiurus was more frequent in mid-successional stages and decreased in later seral stages, and the rodent Oryzomys subflavus occupied all successional stages. The marsupial Gracilinanus agilis was dominant in the area that did not burn for at least 23 yr. Changes in composition of the community of small mammals were more accelerated in early successional stages, when there are more drastic vegetational changes. The ability of small mammals to cope with Cerrado fires and the great dissimilarity among post-burning seral stages suggest that a mosaic of areas representing different post-fire seral stages could increase the regional diversity of this group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports that Brazil is one of the leading exporters of ornamental fishes, mostly freshwater; however, monitoring of the trade is nearly non-existent in the country. How this paper provides an initial assessment of a new venture, the marine aquarium fish trade at Ceara State, northeast Brazil, aiming to document the species traded, to provide preliminary estimates of numbers of specimens traded, and to identify priorities in data collection and monitoring.

The introduction of non-native species (NNS) and the resulting biological invasions are conspicuous features of the Anthropocene Epoch. Parallel to these phenomena, some initiatives (political, social and scientific) have sought to value and protect invasive populations, recognizing some benefits that NNS may deliver to people and nature. Given this growing trend of valuing NNS, we considered opportune to address this issue in the context of megadiverse tropical countries. We investigated an emerging trend that has advocated the protection of highly invasive fishes by legal instruments, i.e., the protection of invasive peacock basses (genus Cichla) in Brazil. We recorded 16 bills or laws proposed between 2017 and 2022 that determine fishing restrictions to protect invasive Cichla spp. from overfishing and other impacts, in order to favor population recruitment, growth, colonization and spread. Specifically, they establish restrictions on fishing, capture, transport, trade, and processing, including quotas, compulsory catch and release, length limits, use of gears, and temporal interdictions. They also determine the naturalization of peacock basses in some main basins of South America, which include different watersheds and ecoregions, with risk of intercountry invasions. This particular case is instructive to unveil the risks of positions that emphasize positive contributions of NNS to society and nature, as these misguided conservation actions favor invasive organisms with high potential to cause environmental degradation, biodiversity losses, and social conflicts. These positions find fertile ground in some contexts, especially in tropical developing countries, where economic constraints, poor access to information, opportunism, and bad political behavior have been the norm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat disturbance affects, directly or indirectly, the predation risk and food available to animals. One group of animals that may be negatively affected by habitat disturbance are forest-dependent aerial insectivorous bats, especially in the Amazon rainforest, where forest clearance and degradation continue unabated. However, we still have a limited understanding of the mechanisms underlying the negative effect of habitat disturbance on forest aerial insectivorous bats. Evaluating the changes in prey-predator interaction in disturbed habitats can provide helpful information for protected area management. We evaluated how predation risk, insect biomass, and moonlight intensity affect bat activity levels in continuous primary and disturbed forests (fragments and secondary forest) at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Central Amazon, Brazil. We sampled bats using autonomous ultrasound recorders in continuous forest, forest fragments, and secondary forest. To assess insect biomass, we placed malaise traps close to the recorders and conducted a playback experiment consisting of owl calls to assess the influence of increased predation risk by natural predators on bat activity. We found that continuous forest had higher bat activity than fragments and secondary forest, probably reflecting higher insect biomass in continuous primary forest compared to secondary forest. Insect biomass was the best predictor of activity in disturbed habitats compared to predation risk and moonlight. Predation risk did not modulate bat activity in any habitat type. The effect of moonlight intensity on activity was only apparent in three species in different habitats. Our results suggest that these responses were related to the abundance of specific insect orders and not predation risk. Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of evaluating the effects of prey-predator interactions on the distribution of bats in disturbed tropical forests, as habitat disturbance can negatively affect lower trophic levels and consequently influence not only bats but other insect consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Habitat loss and natural vegetation fragmentation are significant causes of global biodiversity decline, impacting plant and animal species negatively. This issue is worrisome in the private areas of Cerrado in Brazil, which is the second-largest biome, considered a hotspot for biodiversity conservation, and a provider of ecosystem services. Herein, we present a novel integrated approach to define priority areas for biodiversity conservation and environmental compensation in Cerrado, using multicriteria analysis. Our approach combines variables like deforestation projection, integral index of connectivity, threatened species occurrence, and environmental information of rural properties, ranking the importance of remaining native vegetation for biodiversity conservation and forest certificate issuance. Landscape metrics were used to observe and predict land use and land cover changes from 1988 to 2038. We found a loss of native vegetation in the Cerrado superior to 20% between 1988 and 2018, associated with increased of its fragmentation and its connectivity loss, especially after 2008. Natural cover was replaced mostly by pasture and more recently by agriculture. Moreover, we determined that is expected a loss of native vegetation of around 55% by 2038 in the study area. The proposed approach can predict the consequences of future changes in the landscape of the private areas in the Cerrado biome. It should be replicated in other ecosystems, supporting the decision-making process for biodiversity protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of human activities on the suppression of biodiversity is visibly evident throughout the world. Monitoring and conservation services are usually expensive in terms of time and money, and potential savings in these areas are always welcome. The higher-taxon approach has been used as a possible alternative to overcome these impediments. However, there is little information about the effect of sample size on the effectiveness of the higher-taxon approach, mainly with empirical data. Using an extensive database, which compiles information on the distribution of ants between the years 1886 and 2020, I verified the effect of sample size on the predictive power of the higher-taxon approach in Brazil. I evaluated the effect of sample size on the predictive power of the Genus and Subfamily to represent species richness and composition at the spatial scales of State and Biomes. The associations between coarser taxonomic units and species-level are strong at both spatial scales, with metrics of richness and composition. In general, the genus has the results with the highest coefficients regardless of spatial scales. The sample size effect was sporadic and did not dramatically affect the effectiveness of the surrogates. Regardless of the possible biases that data compiled from the literature and taxonomic collections may have due to lack of standardization, coarser taxonomic units (Genus and Subfamily) were efficient predictors of species-level in Brazilian states and biomes. It reinforces the potential to save costs in monitoring and conserving ant biodiversity in a wide space-environmental gradient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Afforestation of subtropical grasslands increased during the last decade and their impacts on soil biota and functions are not well known. Here we investigated the effects of grassland afforestation with Eucalyptus on soil Collembola communities in southern Brazil. By using paired transects (native grassland vs. plantation), we assessed Collembola taxonomic and functional composition and diversity and their relations with plant diversity and soil microbial and physical–chemical parameters. Eucalyptus plantations significantly decreased plant richness, soil pH, and soil temperature. Microbial biomass, soil basal respiration and enzyme activities were negatively affected by grassland afforestation, which may indicate an effect on decomposition, soil fertility, and carbon stock. At a regional scale, grassland afforestation diminished the richness, and at a local scale changed the taxonomic and functional composition of Collembola communities. An environmental filtering mechanism is suggested triggering trait turnover from open (grassland) to a closed canopy habitat (tree plantation). While grassland presented high abundance of larger, eyed, and pigmented Collembola, Eucalyptus favored smaller, blind, and non-pigmented Collembola with shadow-adapted sensorial structures. Our results on afforestation effects in subtropical grasslands are similar to those described for temperate zone, and may underpin the development of conservation strategies for land-use on subtropical grasslands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maximizing biodiversity persistence in heterogeneous human-modified landscapes is hindered by the complex interactions between habitat quality and configuration of native and non-native habitats. Here we examined these complex interactions considering avian diversity across 26 sampling sites, each of which comprised of three sampling points located across a gradient of disturbance: core native habitat fragment, fragment edge, and non-native adjacent matrix. The 78 sampling points were further nested within three neotropical biomes—Amazonia, Cerrado and Pantanal—in central-western Brazil. Matrix type consisted of cattle pastures in the Amazon and teak plantations in the Pantanal and Cerrado. We considered the interactive effects of (1) disturbance-context: fragment core, edge and adjacent matrix, (2) matrix type: tree plantation or cattle pastures, both subject to varying land-use intensity, and (3) native habitat configuration (fragment size, shape and isolation) on bird species richness, abundance and composition. Based on point-count surveys, we recorded 210 bird species. Bird species richness and abundance declined across the disturbance gradient, while genus composition only differed within the adjacent matrix, particularly cattle-pastures. The effect of native habitat area was positive but only detected at fragment edges. Overall bird diversity increased at sites characterized by higher availability of either relict trees within pasture landscapes or old-growth trees within teak plantation landscapes. The core of native fragments played a primary role in ensuring the persistence of bird diversity, regardless of fragment size. In contrast to pastures, tree plantations likely harbour a higher proportion of forest-dependent species while bird diversity can be further enhanced by reduced management intensity in both matrix types. Strategies to maximize avian persistence should not only include retaining native habitats, but also maximizing the size of core native habitats. Likewise, more structurally complex matrix types should be encouraged while maintaining low levels of land-use intensity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferns and lycophytes are plants with great diversity in tropical and subtropical regions, mainly in rain forests. In Brazil, the biome with the largest number of ferns and lycophytes species is the Atlantic Forest. However, studies on the distribution patterns of these species throughout the biome few and specific some regions. To reduce this knowledge gap, our work investigated the key areas of richness and endemism for species of ferns and lycophytes occurring in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and assesses the effectiveness of protected areas for protecting this biodiversity. We registered 939 species, distributed among 39 families and 140 genera. We established four regions (centres) with a high number of species designated as: Bahia, Espinhaço/Caparaó, Serras do Mar/Mantiqueira and Southern centres. For endemism, we identified six relevant areas, all within the proposed richness centres. We found that 73.4% of the species occur within protection areas. The percentages of endemic and threatened species occurring within the limits of these areas correspond to 65.5% and 50.66%, respectively. The patterns of richness and endemism are directly related to the topographic and climatic characteristics that make up the environmental heterogeneity of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meeting Brazil's ambitious national commitments on both climate change mitigation and biodiversity conservation depends on securing its reserves of forest carbon and biodiversity. Brazil's 'Forest Code' is a key tool to reconcile environmental preservation and agricultural production; it limits deforestation and requires forest restoration in illegally deforested areas. However, not all provisions of the law's 2012 revision have yet been implemented and some are facing new challenges. Using modelled land use change projections for the whole of the country, we show that full implementation and enforcement of the law has the potential to contribute to conserving biodiversity. Biodiversity outcomes will be especially positive if (i) deforested areas are restored in ways that support recolonization by native species and (ii) additional measures are implemented to protect native vegetation in areas like Caatinga dry forests and Cerrado savannas, which may experience added pressure displaced from other regions by Forest Code implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The definition of priority for conservation becomes an emergency because habitat loss and degradation are among the main impacts on karst landscapes. In this sense, the present study aimed to evaluate the priorities for cave conservation through the combination of indexes that use species richness, species distribution, and proportion of the deforested area (PDA). The caves presented 287 non-troglobitic species and 37 species (11.7 %) with troglomorphic traits that are distributed in 50 % of the caves. The caves also present a high phylogenetic and functional diversity of terrestrial, aquatic, and amphibious cave-restricted species, including many predators, scavengers, and one phytophagous species, most of them presenting remarkable specialized traits and restrict distribution in a few caves and in specific biotopes. The PDA were positively related to the distance from the limestone outcrop, because of the restrictive landforms for agropastoral activities. At least two caves present extremely high priority for conservation (Baixão and Baixa da Fortuna caves), while four caves present high priority, and almost all others require at least a conservation action. Suggestively, in this specific case, a coherent strategy was shown to maintain the preserved vegetation around the caves, improving the restoration of small fragments and minimizing alterations. Despite the results of the indices, the singularity of the area regarding the taxonomic and functional diversity of troglobites also reinforces the urgent need for conservation actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent theories suggest that processes shaping species diversity are the same shaping genetic diversity, leading to a correlation between the two levels of diversity. Using Neotropical bat assemblages, and considering the genetic diversity of two co-distributed Chiroptera species with distinct life-history traits, Artibeus planirostris and Carollia perspicillata, we evaluated the correlation between metrics of taxonomic (species richness, evenness, and community divergence) and genetic diversity (number of haplotypes, haplotype diversity, allelic richness, expected heterozygosity and genetic divergence) in these two species. Landscape variables potentially affecting those correlations (distance to the nearest conservation unit, forest area, forest border length and number of forest fragments) were also analysed. For A. planirostris, we found a negative correlation between evenness and expected heterozygosity and also between mean presence-absence assemblage divergence and mean genetic divergence based on microsatellites. Our results indicate that the genetic diversity in A. planirostris is not explained by the landscape variables considered. For C. perspicillata, we found a positive correlation between species richness and haplotype richness and between evenness and expected heterozygosity. Genetic differentiation based on microsatellites in C. perspicillata was positively related to geographic distance and landscape differentiation. Allelic richness and expected heterozygosity in C. perspicillata were negatively related to distance from the conservation unit and forest area, but significance changed according to the spatial scale. We conclude that species-genetic diversity correlations may vary according to the species under study. Thus, A. planirostris appears to be ecologically different to other species in assemblages, while C. perspicillata seems to be ecologically similar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2021 the countries of the world will discuss a framework under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) for a new environmental agenda for the next 10 years ("post-2020"). Parties should consider Brazil to be a central nation in these discussions. The country holds a large freshwater biodiversity that needs to be conserved, but current policies imperil species and ecosystems. Here we present topics to guide other CBD parties in discussing with Brazil a better agenda to conserve freshwater biodiversity post-2020. These initiatives include: (1) a national plan to reduce threats, (2) restoration of freshwater ecosystems, (3) protected areas, (4) more investment in research, and (5) science communication. Brazil's participation in these CBD negotiations is fundamental for a new agreement, but the country is under a presidential administration with little concern for the environment. While our suggestions are intended for participants in the CBD negotiations, they will also be relevant to other international actors in the coming years. Nations, international investors, private companies and NGOs around the world must therefore use their influence to press the current administration to protect the country's environment, including its enormous freshwater biodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management of marine turtles at broad spatial scales is challenging due to the costs and the logistical feasibility of collecting ecological data and information on multiple threats at this scale. Spatially explicit assessments of the exposure of marine turtles to cumulative threats provides an alternative approach by identifying regions that are impacted by multiple threats at broad scales. To inform future management of juvenile green turtles, Chelonia mydas, off the southern and southeastern Brazilian coast we determined their cumulative exposure to five pertinent anthropogenic activities (marine traffic, port areas, and artisanal, trawl and gillnet fisheries). Information on the spatial distribution of juvenile green turtles was obtained by satellite tagging 14 wild-caught turtles in the Paranaguá Estuarine Complex, off the Paraná coast in southern Brazil and human activity information was obtained from various databases. This allowed us to identify the anthropogenic activities that provide the greatest risk to marine turtles (artisanal fisheries and marine traffic) and five "hotspot" threat areas that require prompt local management intervention to protect marine turtles in the region. These results can be used to inform on the ground efforts where further impact assessments and management interventions can be prioritized and undertaken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The second largest biome in Brazil, the Cerrado has been transformed into a highly mechanized and intensive agricultural area, with little public opposition. The native anurofauna is rich in species number and endemisms, but has long been regarded as a generalist community originated from neighboring biomes. The accelerated degradation of Cerrado habitats caused by agriculture is bound to affect local anuran communities. This review aims to investigate the effects of anthropogenic activities on local amphibians. Despite a clear paucity, the existing studies indicate that, while this community may be more resilient to some anthropogenic activities (e.g. fire) than their forest counterparts, agricultural environments are strongly dominated by generalist species. Susceptibility to agro-cattle land-uses appears to be determined by specializations, especially regarding habitat and breeding strategies. Natural vegetation fragments are important for maintaining diverse anuran communities in agroecosystems. Agrochemicals cause histopathologic alterations and potential decreased fitness. Chytridiomycosis has been recorded in species extant in the biome, including endemics. The anurofauna appears to be especially sensitive to hydroelectric dams, as even previously common, widespread and generalist species declined or disappeared after dam flooding. Latest predictions indicate the occupation of the Cerrado will proceed northward, which, coupled with climate change, will cause great loss of biodiversity. Only a small portion of suitable natural habitats will remain in northern Cerrado, with amphibian richness being reduced to less than half. We conclude that less popular biomes may benefit from trait-oriented reviews to assess and guide future scientific and conservation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever-increasing requirement of land for food production causes habitat loss and biodiversity decline. Human activities like agriculture are responsible for increases in global temperature, which may preclude species' survival if they cannot adapt to new climatic conditions or track suitable ones. Although negative impacts of climate change may act in synergy with agriculture when dispersion routes are blocked by croplands, agriculture is important to local economies. Therefore, the demand for land conversion causes conflict among stakeholders and decision makers. But can we benefit both economy and environment? Here we propose an approach to help find a balance between agriculture expansion and biodiversity conservation. We used suitable areas for agriculture to identify priority places to implement monocultures. We modeled species distributions to avoid sites with high conservation value and used species dispersal ability to minimize the distance between present-day and future suitable areas for species persistence. We used a decision-support tool to find a balance between economic development and species conservation, and we conclude that land use conversion is a threat for species persistence given that negative impacts caused by crops could be exacerbated by climate change. Unguided agriculture expansion into future species distribution areas is possible due to severe decreases in the areas for species to persist in the future. Facing this scenario, applying ecological knowledge to guide agriculture expansion is urgent if we want to spare species future distribution area in the Cerrado. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the huge biodiversity of the Cerrado biome, a synthesis on the distribution of genetic diversity across the biome is still wanting. We describe patterns of plant genetic variation across the Cerrado biome, highlighting areas of high diversity and priority areas for conservation. We also analyze the relative importance of environmental characteristics and human footprints on patterns of genetic variation. Raw genetic data comes primarily from central and southeastern Brazil, outside conservation units (CUs). Standardized estimated genetic richness (Gest) decreases in a north–south gradient. Populations with high genetic diversity (He) and allelic richness (AR) are widespread across the biome, but both increase with distance from the center of Cerrado. Environmental variables related to energy, temperature and precipitation are associated with Gest and AR, but not He. Gest is higher in northern Cerrado, in regions with low human development index (HDI). Conversely, southern Cerrado shows higher HDI and lower genetic richness, most likely due to both high habitat fragmentation and loss. CUs in northern Cerrado tend to have higher Gest, whereas those in southeast and central Cerrado have higher He and AR. The high genetic diversity and richness in the few populations studied in northern Cerrado, coupled with the low data availability, reveal the importance of encouraging genetic studies in this region. Moreover, very limited information about population genetic diversity is available from CUs, which may constrain the access of species conservation status and decision-make on management of populations inside CUs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alien or non-native species are defined as species living outside their natural distributional ranges. The spread of alien species is increasing globally as a result of rapid technological advances and globalization. Recent investigations have estimated global hotspots of alien established species on the basis of geopolitical boundaries, including Dawson et al. (in: Nat Ecol Evol 1:186. 10.1038/s41559-017-0186, 2017). In particular, these investigations do not consider Intra-Country Established Alien Species, i.e., successful introductions that occur among regions within the same country. In continental countries such as Brazil, the USA and China, studies excluding Intra-Country Established Alien Species (IEAS) waste essential information. Here, we argue that researchers should also consider intra-country introductions when estimating and addressing the risks of alien introductions. By using detailed data for freshwater fish including IEAS in large countries, we demonstrate that novel hotspots for IEAS have arisen worldwide. We illustrate emblematic examples of IEAS, as well as their vectors and negative impacts, to demonstrate the range of impacts that might be missed when excluding IEAS data from analysis. We recognize the need for generalizations, but generalizations based on incomplete data can misinform conservation efforts, particularly in megadiverse regions. Ignores IEAS influences how we count non-native species, invasions and perceive invisibility and impacts. Consequently, upcoming records and analysis of invasion patterns and management of aliens and EAS global hotspots must account for such biases in quantifying the IEAS portion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cerrado is one of the most threatened biomes in Brazil, with little spatial representation within the Protected Area network. Recently, proposed conservation plans worldwide have advocated for the use of multiple biodiversity facets to protect unique evolutionary and functional processes. Our aim was to identify areas with high biodiversity representativeness applying this multifaceted perspective, and propose conservation plans based on the joint analysis of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity. We used a database of the Brazilian National Program for Research in Biodiversity, which employs a standard protocol for sampling tadpoles. The Cerrado database includes samples from 165 water bodies spread over 15 localities, covering most of the Central Brazilian Cerrado. We selected four morphological traits to calculate functional diversity and used a dated phylogeny available in the literature to compute phylogenetic diversity. Our approach selected five priority areas for conservation, one of which is already protected. Our results highlighted the importance of four new areas which show high values of diversity, including original lineages and traits, and urgently need conservation prioritization. Furthermore, unlike the current protected network, our approach performs significantly better than random at protecting sites with high phylogenetic and functional diversity. We therefore discuss how the multifaceted indices considered can help protect key ecosystem functions and evolutionary legacy in anuran communities of the Brazilian Cerrado. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-crop habitats play a key role in maintaining functional diversity and ecosystem services in farmland. However, the interplay between beneficial insects and landscape variables has rarely been investigated in Neotropical agroecosystems. We used flower flies as a model group to investigate the effects of landscape attributes on beneficial insects in agroecosystems across a gradient of landscape complexity. We specifically ask: (i) Do the abundance and species richness of flower flies in cereal crops increase with increasing landscape complexity? (ii) Do the effects of landscape variables on local flower fly communities differ between spatial scales? (iii) How do landscape complexity and local factors (crop size, altitude and insecticide applications) affect beta diversity? We sampled flower flies in 54 edges within 18 wheat crops in Paraná State, southern Brazil. The percentage of non-crop habitats, landscape diversity and edge density were the explanatory variables, which were calculated at multiple spatial scales for each landscape. We collected 8340 flower flies, distributed in 12 genera and 52 species. Species richness was positively associated with the percentage of non-crop habitats, but total abundance presented non-clear pattern. However, abundance without the dominant species was also positively associated with the percentage non-crop habitats. Similarly, beta diversity was related to non-crop habitats, suggesting that the reduction in non-crop habitats implies in species loss. We have provided the first insights into the importance of non-crop habitats on the conservation of beneficial insects within Neotropical farmlands. To guarantee high levels of biodiversity within agroecosystems we need to promote the conservation and restoration of non-crop habitats in the surrounding landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we describe the distribution pattern of bat species and select priority areas for the conservation of the Cerrado based on a systematic planning approach. We estimated species richness and calculated the total beta diversity based on Sørensen’s dissimilarity index (βsor). We estimated the species turnover using Simpson’s dissimilarity index (βsim). We then evaluated the nesting (βsne) by the difference between the dissimilarity indices (βsor and βsim). Based on this analysis, we identified the priority areas for the conservation of bats in the Cerrado based on the zonation approach. We found that the species richness and beta diversity of bats in the Cerrado are concentrated primarily in the central and northern portions of the biome. We also discovered that the conservation units of the Cerrado are ineffective for the protection of species with a restricted distribution (≤ 150 grid cells), such as Vampyrum spectrum, for which we propose the creation of new conservation units that better cover the diversity patterns observed in the present study. By conserving this diversity, we will also be protecting local habitats, which will in turn enable the survival of a wide range of species, and provide the ecosystems with the capacity to respond adequately to future changes in the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nature conservation can only be an efficient process if involving different society actors, especially those that have long-term and multiplying effects on how society relates with nature, such as children/students. To delineate nature conservation strategies, we need to understand the drivers that shape peoples' behaviors and attitudes towards nature; for students this is mostly determined by their past experience and influence of their socio-economic and familiar context. To test these assumptions, we develop a study focused on elementary school students from Portugal and Brazil. In each country we selected two student's groups representing two distinct socio-environmental contexts: rural and urban populations. Based on a written questionnaire, we aimed at understanding the effect of parental and socio-environmental contexts, gender, prior contact with nature and online news-associated environmental information, on how students prioritize taxa to be conserved. Furthermore, we analyzed how health, economic and touristic values constrain pro-conservation attitudes. Students from urban areas and from Portugal showed a lower probability of having a pro-conservation attitude. Brazilian and rural students may have a more frequent contact with nature and live in regions of higher biodiversity, two factors that may act synergistically to produce those patterns. Positive attitudes towards conservation seem to be over-ruled by health (i.e. self-preservation) and economical (i.e. financial subsistence) interests and values. Moreover, students prioritize for conservation species that are commonly mentioned in the online news, particularly mammals, and plants. Acknowledging that students rank higher health and economical values over conservation ones, as well as the perceptible importance of contacting with nature and the apparent relevance of online news as information vehicles, may increase the chances of improving the efficacy of nature conservation strategies. Furthermore, this information can lead to an improvement of environmental awareness and literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Managing ecological disturbances at different spatial scales is paramount for maintaining or restoring faunal diversity in grasslands. Whereas some studies have reported varying net effects of livestock disturbance intensity upon species richness in grasslands, most analysis reveal strong effects on beta-diversity. However, beta-diversity can be further partitioned into a nestedness and turnover components, which allows complementary insights on the effects of disturbance on biodiversity across spatial scales. Here we tested for differences in avian species richness and beta-diversity across three intensity levels of livestock disturbance in southern Brazilian grasslands under commercial livestock production. We also tested how disturbance influences the nestedness and turnover components of beta-diversity separately. We found no difference in rarified-extrapolated species richness between disturbance levels. In contrast, we found a significant difference in species composition between disturbance levels, which was attributable to the turnover, but not to the nestedness component. Specifically, livestock disturbance had a predictable effect upon beta-diversity, with turnover of species composition occurring along the gradient of vegetation height in pastures. Our study illustrates the importance of differentiating the turnover and nestedness components of beta-diversity to detect effects of disturbance gradients on biodiversity patterns. We argue that conservation strategies should focus on preserving the mosaic of short- and tall-grass physiognomies associated with the disturbance gradient imposed by livestock production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The knowledge on the geographical distribution of species is essential for building biogeographical and macroecological hypotheses. However, information on this regard is not distributed uniformly in space and usually come from biased sampling. The aim of this study is to quantify the influence of spatial distribution of sampling effort on the assessment of spider species richness in Brazil. We used a database of spider distribution records in Brazil, based on the taxonomic and biodiversity survey literature. The results show that the Atlantic Forest was better sampled and had the highest spider species richness among the Brazilian biomes. The Amazon, though having large collecting gaps and high concentration of records around major cities and rivers, showed the second highest number of species. The Pampa had a large number of records, but these are concentrated near a major city in the transition zone with the Atlantic Forest. The Cerrado, Caatinga and Pantanal had shown to be poorly sampled and, consequently, were among the lesser known biomes regarding the spider fauna. A linear regression analysis showed that the spider species richness in Brazil is strongly correlated to the number of records. However, we have identified areas potentially richest in species, which strongly deviate from the predicted by our analyses. Our results show that it is possible to access the spatial variation in species richness, as long as the variation in sampling effort is taken into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subterranean ecosystems are among the most fragile and threatened worldwide. Among organisms living in the subterranean domain, source populations restricted to subterranean habitats are called troglobites, generally distinguished by sets of morphological, physiological, and ecological specializations. The singularities at both systemic (high dark and phylogenetic diversities) and species levels greatly contribute to regional and global biodiversity. However, good descriptive and interpretative knowledge about this diversity, which is important as a basis for effective conservation policies, is lacking especially for tropical areas. We describe and characterize Brazilian karst areas recognized as spots of high diversity of troglobites, highlighting particularly important cave systems. We considered not only taxonomic richness but also indicators of phylogenetic (e.g., presence of relictual taxa) and genetic diversities, the latter based on degree of specialization of individual species, i.e., accumulation of autapomorphies. For this, we used available literature and our own data, both published and unpublished. Only identifications validated by a taxonomist were considered, while all data based on parataxonomy were disregarded. We propose hypotheses based on models of origin of troglobites aiming to explain the differences between karst areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Descriptions of biodiversity from ecotonal regions are lacking. This knowledge gap results from the difficulty of identifying elements from both biomes/domains and the advancement of human activities that generate small forest fragments. Here it is shown that small forest fragments in an ecotonal region have species richness and abundance in line with other inventories in preserved and non-preserved areas as well as composition and structure differentiated by the presence of species from both domains. The beta diversity among fragments reflects a high turnover supported by the formation of centers of dominance among the most abundant species. Finally, functional diversity favors the group that is tolerant of a wide range of environmental variables and is associated with faunal components. The results indicate that these fragments are important from a conservation standpoint because of the intersection of elements from threatened biomes, which must be managed coherently. However, Brazilian legislation is constantly modified and still allows anthropogenic changes that prevent the persistence of species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas are essential for the maintenance of biodiversity, but defining criteria for prioritizing areas to conserve is not an easy task. In general, selection has been based on species richness and endemism of plants and vertebrates; however, these do not necessarily match invertebrate data, hence the need of using other groups in conservation prioritization. Moreover, species richness represents one of several biodiversity facets and does not subsume other facets such as functional and phylogenetic diversity. Restingas are coastal ecosystems within the Atlantic Forest biome, one of the World's biodiversity hotspots. We investigated whether there is congruence between three different spider biodiversity facets: functional (FD, the variety of functional traits of species), phylogenetic (PD, the evolutionary distinctness of species), and taxonomic (TD, the number and the relative abundance of species), and whether currently protected restingas are effective in protecting these facets. We studied vegetation-living spider communities in 11 restingas along 2,000 km of the Brazilian coast. We found that no value of any biodiversity facet was higher in protected restingas compared with unprotected ones. We demonstrated low congruence between the three biodiversity facets, so that the use of TD as a surrogate of other facets is unwarranted. Whilst some protected restingas hold high values of spider TD, other still unprotected areas present high PD or FD. This result suggests that conservation efforts should be extended to every remaining restinga because they are unique sites to at least one spider biodiversity facet. In particular, we recommend three unprotected restingas as high priorities in future conservation plans based on spider diversity, which corroborate findings for plants and vertebrates in the same sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigated the effects of the partial conversion of native Amazon savanna into a eucalyptus plantation on the richness, composition, and abundance of medium and large mammals. Considering these plantations as an integral component of a patchwork savanna landscape, we verified how the negative effects of these plantations can be buffered by the conservation of remnants of native habitat within their area. We analyzed the contribution of each type of Amazonian savanna to the maintenance of the mammalian fauna and the potential of eucalyptus plantations to substitute these native habitats. A total of 23 mammal species were recorded in line-transect surveys conducted within the conserved savanna. By contrast, only eight species were recorded in the eucalyptus plantation and none of them were exclusive to this vegetation. However, the landscape patchwork formed by plantations and savanna was more diverse and contained 19 species of mammals, highlighting the potential importance of remnant savanna vegetation. The maintenance of remnants of savanna habitat may thus be essential for ensuring the conservation of mammals in the anthropogenic landscape of this region. It will also be important to include as many different subtypes of native savanna vegetation as possible and to consider the connectivity between habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid expansion of human altered landscapes affects biodiversity on every continent. A fundamental goal of conservation biologists is to understand why certain species are at risk of extinction while others are able to persist in human altered landscapes. Afforestation, the conversion of unforested lands to planted forest, is rapidly altering many natural landscapes worldwide. In the Cerrado (Brazilian savanna), a global biodiversity hotspot, a shortage of government incentives has the landscape riddled with abandoned plantation forests that are not subject to active restoration projects. Studies investigating the impacts of abandoned plantations on biodiversity are strikingly limited. We examine the effects of abandoned Eucalyptus plantations on the structure of Cerrado lizard communities. We assessed changes in lizard capture, richness and equitability along cerrado sensu stricto- Eucalyptus transects. Our results indicate abandoned Eucalyptus plantations have subsets of Cerrado species persisting with a great loss of endemic species. The cerrado sensu stricto- Eucalyptus linear transect analysis demonstrated distance from native habitat is positively correlated with loss of biodiversity. We performed correspondence analyses to summarize the variation in species captures across different sites, habitats and pitfall array positions. These analyses depicted strong species associations between habitats and their pitfall array positions. This study is the first to show the negative impacts of abandoned Eucalyptus plantations on Cerrado lizard communities, serving as a cautionary tale of Cerrado biodiversity non-resilience in abandoned Eucalyptus plantations. Mitigation requires that abandoned Eucalyptus plantations are made more suitable to Cerrado lizards by implementing targeted habitat heterogeneity restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cerrado stands out from other savannas of the world for hosting the highest biodiversity and for its ongoing massive destruction. Savannas on plain relief and with deep soils (DS) in Central Brazil have been widely converted into agropastoral ecosystems. In contrast, savannas on steep relief with shallow and rocky soils (RS) have been considered as future biodiversity refuges in Central Brazil. In this study, we show that adjacent DS and RS savanna sites (each with ten 1-ha plots) differ based on their woody species population sizes, but not based on species occurrence or diversity. In addition, we discuss the implications of these results for species conservation. Our research indicates that the DS and RS savannas are complementary, but not equivalent, regarding their representation of savanna vegetation in Central Brazil. We hypothesize that if RS savannas become the only refuges for savannic vegetation, widespread biodiversity losses will occur in the short term (through loss of exclusive and habitat-specialist species) and long term (due to fragmentation, reductions in population size and loss of genetic variability). Thus, we suggest that the consideration of savannas on distinct substrates should be considered for improving conservation decision-making and initiatives and can be beneficial when expanding or creating new conservation units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientists from megadiverse countries, such as Brazil, face huge challenges in gathering and analyzing information about species richness and abundance. In Brazil, speciesLink is an e-infrastructure that offers free and open access to data from more than 300 biological and data collections. SpeciesLink's thematic network, INCT- Virtual Herbarium of Plants and Fungi and the List of Species of the Brazilian Flora, are used as primary data sources to develop Lacunas, an information system with a public web interface that generates detailed reports of the status of plant species occurrence data. Lacunas also integrates information about endemism, conservation status, and collecting efforts over time. Here we describe the motivation and the functionality of this system, showing how it can be useful in detecting under-sampled plant species and geographic areas. We show examples of how knowledge can be extracted from biodiversity primary data using Lacunas. For instance, Lacunas report revealed that 111 angiosperm species (10.3 %), currently considered Data Deficient (DD) in the Official List of Threatened Brazilian Flora, have their distribution well characterized. In addition, the situation of Attalea funifera, a native palm classified as DD, was analyzed in detail, together with other use cases. Information presented in Lacunas reports can thus be used by scientists and policy-makers to help evaluate the status of species occurrence data and prioritize digitization and collecting efforts, as well as some features concerning its conservation status. As Lacunas offers a public online interface, it may also become a valuable tool for helping decision-making processes to become more dynamic and transparent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical biomes are species rich, but some biomes such as seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) are still inadequately studied compared to their co-occurring rain forest and savanna. SDTFs occur in areas of high environmental heterogeneity, resulting in high beta (β)-diversity or species turnover, but this has so far only been accessed using a single β-diversity measure, and at a spatial scale that is of limited applicability for reserve planning. The Caatinga Biogeographic Domain in Brazil contains the largest known extent of SDTF which are poorly studied and inadequately reserved. We therefore studied the variation in species richness and species turnover among SDTF between localities and between known floristic communities. From six localities within the Caatinga Biogeographic Domain we recorded all tree species with a circumference at breast height equaling or exceeding 10 cm within 106 400 m survey plots. From the species presence/absence data we calculated three measures of β-diversity between pairs of study localities and between different floristic communities representing: (i) species similarity, (ii) differences between species richness, and (iii) species gain and loss. Our results confirm the high β-diversity of SDTFs and species turnover between localities and also between floristic communities. The three indices were also complementary to each other and can be used to maximize accuracy in β-diversity studies. The implications of our study for conservation and reserve planning of SDTFs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the tree component of hedgerows resulting from the natural colonization of land plot boundaries' ditches. These three-meter wide ditches were dug during the European occupation of southeastern Brazil, and are a prominent feature of the landscape. The hedgerows are connected to forest fragments within a farmland matrix. In two systems of hedgerows, we sampled a total of 2.28 ha (114 plots of 200 m²), where we evaluated the structural and floristic similarity between fragments and hedgerows, the similarities between the hedgerows and the fragments' edges and interior, and the relationships between distribution of tree species and soil variables. The systems presented similar richness and diversity; hedgerows had greater similarity to the fragments included in the same system than to hedgerows of the other system, indicating possible functional linkages between their components (fragments and hedgerows). Tree species composition in the hedgerows was not more similar to the fragment edges as we expected. The hedgerows exhibited greater density and basal area than the fragments. For either single system, species showed preferences for fragments or hedgerows or for sections of the ditch (edge, wall and bottom of the ditch), but for species common in both systems, those preferences were rarely held. The environmental conditions in the ditches seem to favor the establishment of species from the fragments, even those more common in fragment interior, suggesting that, in spite of their narrow widths, these hedgerows may play an important role in the conservation of flora without negatively impacting agriculturally productive rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chapada das Perdizes is considered a region of high biodiversity, but there are few studies that describe the small mammals in the region, mainly in higher portions of the area. The primary objective of this study was to estimate the richness and abundance of terrestrial small mammals within three different vegetation types in the high altitude region of southern Minas Gerais and to evaluate the relationship between the community composition of terrestrial small mammals and the heterogeneity of phytophysiognomies. Pitfall and cage trap grids were arranged in natural field, semi-deciduous and cloud forests. A total of 26 species was recorded. The compositions of the three phytophysiognomies were significantly different. The expansive study area is located in a region of tension between the Cerrado and Atlantic Forests and should be preserved due to high diversity and ecological importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A controversial issue in ecology and conservation is whether community composition is controlled by niche or dispersal assembly. We assessed the importance of climatic factors and geographic gradients on the distribution of orchid bees in a severely-fragmented and species-rich tropical forest region in Brazil. Orchid-bee males were attracted to 17 different scent baits and collected in 15 forest sites. In total we captured 11,081 bees from 40 species. Climatic variables explained twice as much of the observed variation in the bee species data set as did pure spatial variation. However, most of the climatic explained variation was spatially structured, indicating that the species and the climatic data have a similar spatial arrangement. In fact, part of the observed latitudinal changes in community composition appears to be explained by a concomitant gradient in precipitation seasonality. Similarly, reduced temperatures and a more seasonal precipitation may help to explain the relative distinctiveness of the fauna from some of the westernmost sites. The level of similarity among the sampled sites, although highly variable, decayed both as function of the climatic and geographic distances among these sites. The greatest pairwise dissimilarities in the composition of the orchid-bee fauna were observed among sites 200-300 km from each other, since in many case those sites were more dissimilar in terms of climate than those further apart. It is suggested that global warming and consequent altered climatic regimes will influence the distribution patterns of orchid bees in a region already threatened by deforestation and forest fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The drosophilids of a gallery forest in the Brazilian savanna were investigated to identify the temporal and vertical patterns in the community structure of these insects. Twelve monthly collections were performed (December 2007 to November 2008) in three vertical strata of the forest (0, 4 and 8 m heights) using 30 traps baited with fermented banana. The drosophilid assemblage was composed of 61 species (7,623 individuals), experienced temporal fluctuations and was vertically stratified. Both the diversity and abundance of the flies were very low during the dry season, a time when the assemblages were dominated by the exotic species Drosophila simulans, whereas the community showed an increased abundance and richness of neotropical species and showed vertical stratification in the wet season. Rare species were found primarily at the ground level (flies usually associated with neotropical forests) or in the canopy, which harbors species currently associated with open vegetation, little-studied neotropical species and most likely several new species. These changes, which reflect drosophilid adaptations to different environments, involve a shifting of the ecological niches occupied by the flies in the forest over time. This process of change is termed niche construction. Thus, we conclude that this complex and dynamic community structure, which is related to the interaction of several environmental factors associated with different forest environments, contributes to the high diversity of gallery forests in the Brazilian savanna. [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]