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Tropical forests have a great potential for the exploitation of natural resources. Among the economic activities that depend on forest resources, timber production is the most important one. Nevertheless, these activities may negatively affect wildlife, the availability of natural resources, and ecosystem process. Here we analysed the effects of low-impact logging on understory bird species richness, number of individuals captured, species composition, and assemblage structure in central Brazilian Amazon. We compared logged and unlogged areas over a period of three years (from August 2014 to May 2017). We captured a total of 180 birds and 42 species (20 families) in the logged area and 226 birds and 49 species (20 families) in the unlogged area. Bird assemblage structure in the logged area changed more intensely over the three years of study and became more similar to the assemblage found in the unlogged area. The degree of similarity (Jaccard’s index) in species composition between logged and unlogged areas increased from 18% in the third year to 39% in the fifth year after logging. The results suggest that the minor effects of low-impact logging were reduced a few years after the disturbance, probably due to ecological succession. The proximity of logged and unlogged areas and the reduced impact in the study site may facilitate the recovery of the bird assemblage after the disturbance.

Cooperative breeding is rare in shorebirds, and when found it is thought to be due to polygamous mating (cooperative polygamy). Here we describe the social structure of cooperatively breeding groups in Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis and test the prediction that offspring sex ratio is skewed towards the sex that helps. The social groups consisted of a breeding pair with one or two young (mostly males, 68%) from the previous breeding season, and offspring sex ratio was not skewed. Cooperative breeding in the Southern Lapwing is not the consequence of cooperative polygamy, but rather groups were formed by a mated pair and some of their offspring from previous nests as helpers.

Linear patches of native forest are commonly found in south-eastern Brazil, where they also serve as boundaries between rural properties. These linear patches can be found connecting forest fragments (possibly acting as vegetation corridors) or isolated and are generally surrounded by agricultural areas (mainly cattle pastures and coffee plantations). In this paper, we assessed the influence of connectivity and type of surrounding agricultural areas on small mammal species in a fragmented landscape. We captured and monitored seven species from which all but one (Rhipidomys itoan) were found in all types of habitat studied (forest fragments, linear patches, and agricultural areas). Community structure was highly similar between forest fragments and linear patches, but differed in agricultural areas. Necromys lasiurus and Calomys cerqueirai were more abundant in agricultural areas and rarely captured elsewhere. Akodon montensis was the most common species and preferred forest fragments. Gracilinanus microtarsus was more abundant in linear patches. Cerradomys subflavus, Oligoryzomys nigripes and R. itoan were equally abundant in forest fragments and linear patches. Small mammal community structure was similar in connected and isolated linear patches. Also, linear patches differed from both types of surrounding agricultural areas - cattle pasture and coffee plantation. Based on the results we concluded that even narrow and isolated linear patches may play an important role for wildlife conservation in a severely fragmented landscape. Therefore, we suggest that conservation efforts should focus on increasing the amount of native vegetation and encourage landowners to maintain the linear forest patches.

Tropical forests are suffering several changes due to human activities. Among these, selective logging may represent a less damaging alternative, although it may alter species compositions of animals and plants in forest ecosystems. Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) are used as bioindicators as they respond quickly to environmental changes. Thus, in this study, we tested the effects of time after logging and seasonality on species richness, number of individuals, and assemblage structure of dung beetles in central Brazilian Amazon Forest. We also identified indicator species of logged and unlogged sites. We used a total of 240 flight interception traps (20 per area) in 11 logged sites (between one and 15 years after logging) and one unlogged site. We collected 28,508 dung beetles from 85 species. Most individuals (24,349, 85.41%) were collected during the dry period. Four species were good indicators of the unlogged site, while 21 species were indicators of logged sites. Time after logging and seasonality significantly affected species richness, the number of individuals collected, and assemblage structure. These effects were more significant from the second to the fifth year after logging. Logged sites represented 77% to 95% of species richness in the unlogged site. From the sixth year after logging, dung beetle assemblages were significantly recovered. Our results show that low-impact selective logging practices in sustainable forest sites may not cause irreversible impacts on dung beetle diversity.

Vegetation corridors are generally proposed as a strategy to reduce forest fragment isolation in fragmented landscapes. In southern Minas Gerais, Brazil, vegetation corridors emerged naturally afte...

Kubelka et al. (Science, 9 November 2018, p. 680-683) claim that climate change has disrupted patterns of nest predation in shorebirds. They report that predation rates have increased since the 1950s, especially in the Arctic. We describe methodological problems with their analyses and argue that there is no solid statistical support for their claims.

Kubelka et al. (Reports, 9 November 2018, p. 680) claim that climate change has disrupted patterns of nest predation in shorebirds. They report that predation rates have increased since the 1950s, especially in the Arctic. We describe methodological problems with their analyses and argue that there is no solid statistical support for their claims. Fil: Bulla, Martin. Nioz Royal Netherlands Institute For Sea Research; Países Bajos. Max Planck Institute For Ornithology; Alemania. Czech University of Life Sciences; República Checa Fil: Reneerkens, Jeroen. Nioz Royal Netherlands Institute For Sea Research; Países Bajos. University of Groningen; Países Bajos Fil: Weiser, Emily L.. Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center; Estados Unidos Fil: Sokolov, Aleksandr. Institute Of Plant And Animal Ecology; Rusia Fil: Taylor, Audrey R.. University of Alaska; Estados Unidos Fil: Sittler, Benoît. Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg; Alemania. Arctic Ecology Research Group; Francia Fil: McCaffery, Brian J.. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Estados Unidos Fil: Ruthrauff, Dan R.. U.S. Geological Survey; Estados Unidos Fil: Catlin, Daniel H.. Virginia Tech University; Estados Unidos Fil: Payer, David C.. National Park Service; Estados Unidos Fil: Ward, David H.. U.S. Geological Survey; Estados Unidos Fil: Solovyeva, Diana V.. Institute of Biological Problems of the North; Rusia Fil: Santos, Eduardo S. A.. Universidade de São Paulo; Brasil Fil: Rakhimberdiev, Eldar. Lomonosov Moscow State University; Rusia. University of Groningen; Países Bajos Fil: Nol, Erica. Trent University; Canadá Fil: Kwon, Eunbi. Virginia Tech; Estados Unidos Fil: Brown, Glen S.. Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry; Canadá Fil: Hevia, Glenda Denise. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; Argentina Fil: Gates, H. River. National Audubon Society; Estados Unidos Fil: Johnson, James A.. Fish and Wildlife Service; Estados Unidos Fil: van Gils, Jan A.. Department of Coastal Systems and Utrecht University; Países Bajos Fil: Hansen, Jannik. Aarhus University. Aarhus Institute Of Advanced Studies.; Dinamarca Fil: Lamarre, Jean-François. Polar Knowledge Canada; Canadá Fil: Rausch, Jennie. Environment and Climate Change Canada; Canadá Fil: Conklin, Jesse R.. University of Groningen; Países Bajos Fil: Liebezeit, Joe. Audubon Society of Portland; Estados Unidos Fil: Bêty, Joël. University of Quebec; Canadá Fil: Lang, Johannes. Arctic Ecology Research Group ; Francia. Giessen University; Alemania Fil: Alves, José A.. University of Aveiro; Portugal. University of Iceland; Islandia Fil: Fernández-Elipe, Juan. No especifíca; Fil: Exo, Klaus-Michael. Institute of Avian Research “Vogelwarte Helgoland"; Alemania Fil: Bollache, Loïc. Universite de Franche-Comte; Francia Fil: Bertellotti, Néstor Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; Argentina Fil: Giroux, Marie-Andrée. Université de Moncton; Canadá Fil: van de Pol, Martijn. Netherlands Institute of Ecology ; Países Bajos Fil: Johnson, Matthew. USDA Forest Service; Estados Unidos Fil: Boldenow, Megan L.. University of Alaska; Estados Unidos Fil: Valcu, Mihai. Max Planck Institute für Ornithologie; Alemania Fil: Soloviev, Mikhail. Lomonosov Moscow State University; Alemania Fil: Sokolova, Natalya. Arctic Research Station; Rusia Fil: Senner, Nathan R.. University of South Carolina; Estados Unidos Fil: Lecomte, Nicolas. Université de Moncton; Canadá Fil: Meyer, Nicolas. Universite de Franche-Comte; Francia. Arctic Ecology Research Group; Francia Fil: Schmidt, Niels Martin. Aarhus University. Department of Bioscience; Dinamarca Fil: Gilg, Olivier. Arctic Ecology Research Group; Francia. Universite de Franche-Comte; Francia Fil: Smith, Paul A.. Environment and Climate Change Canada; Canadá Fil: Machín, Paula. No especifíca; Fil: McGuire, Rebecca L.. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados Unidos Fil: Cerboncini, Ricardo A. S.. Universidade Federal do Paraná; Brasil Fil: Ottvall, Richard. No especifíca; Fil: van Bemmelen, Rob S. A.. Wageningen Marine Research; Países Bajos Fil: Swift, Rose J.. Cornell University; Estados Unidos Fil: Saalfeld, Sarah T.. No especifíca; Fil: Jamieson,Sarah E.. Simon Fraser University; Canadá Fil: Brown, Stephen. No especifíca; Fil: Piersma, Theunis. NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research; Países Bajos. Conservation Ecology Group; Países Bajos Fil: Albrecht, Tomas. Czech Academy of Sciences; República Checa. Charles University; República Checa Fil: D’Amico, Verónica. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Centro para el Estudio de Sistemas Marinos; Argentina Fil: Lanctot, Richard B.. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Estados Unidos Fil: Kempenaers, Bart. Max Planck Institute für Ornithologie; Alemania

he Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilesnis) is a common bird in Southern America and commonly found in any large open areas, including agriculture and urban. The lapwing is a facultative cooperative breeder and aggressively defends its breeding territory. Thus, the breeding system and their consequences for reproductive success are interesting for evolutionary biology. Capture of the lapwing, however, is difficult. Most studies to date have not captured or individually marked birds even though identifying individuals to examine their roles in the breeding units is essential for understanding group evolution and interactions. Here we describe ways to efficiently capture the Southern Lapwing during the breeding season using mist-nets at night and by taking advantage of their defensive behaviors. Before hatching, nets were placed inside the breeding territories and by strategically walking towards the birds they were guided towards the nets, in which they fell when taking flight. After hatching, we captured the young birds and held them near the nets in which the adults fell when defending them. By using these methods, we captured 78 birds during the 2012 and 2013 breeding seasons. We observed no nest nor territory abandonment after captures. We suggest that our methods are useful in most situations with lapwings and better capture and marking will contribute to developing long-term population monitoring.

Edge effects have been studied extensively in fragmented landscapes, often with conflicting findings. Edge effects may also be important in other situations, such as linear clearings (e.g. along roads, power lines or train tracks). We tested for responses of small mammals to a narrow (c. 10 m) linear clearing created by a railway in the largest area of Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil. Only two environmental variables, light intensity and train noise, were greatest at the edge and decreased with distance from the edge. Temperature differed (greater extremes and more variable) only at the edge itself. The few small mammal species that were only rarely captured at the edge resulted in an apparent edge-effect with respect to species richness. The abundance of small mammals, however, was independent of distance from the railway. There was no correlation between resource availability at the tracks and abundance of small mammals. Edge effects were minimal, which suggests that narrow railways (in contrast with roads) in unfragmented landscapes probably do not have a significant impact (if any) on wildlife, as found elsewhere and especially in tropical forests. The use of railways instead of roads is a potential strategy to minimize the effects of traversing important habitats for commercial reasons.

Scientists have long been trying to understand why the Neotropical region holds the highest diversity of birds on Earth. Recently, there has been increased interest in morphological variation between and within species, and in how climate, topography, and anthropogenic pressures may explain and affect phenotypic variation. Because morphological data are not always available for many species at the local or regional scale, we are limited in our understanding of intra- and interspecies spatial morphological variation. Here, we present the ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS, a data set that includes measurements of up to 44 morphological traits in 67,197 bird records from 2,790 populations distributed throughout the Atlantic forests of South America. This data set comprises information, compiled over two centuries (1820–2018), for 711 bird species, which represent 80% of all known bird diversity in the Atlantic Forest. Among the most commonly reported traits are sex (n = 65,717), age (n = 63,852), body mass (n = 58,768), flight molt presence (n = 44,941), molt presence (n = 44,847), body molt presence (n = 44,606), tail length (n = 43,005), reproductive stage (n = 42,588), bill length (n = 37,409), body length (n = 28,394), right wing length (n = 21,950), tarsus length (n = 20,342), and wing length (n = 18,071). The most frequently recorded species are Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 1,837), Turdus albicollis (n = 1,658), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 1,468), Turdus leucomelas (n = 1,436), and Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 1,384). The species recorded in the greatest number of sampling localities are Basileuterus culicivorus (n = 243), Trichothraupis melanops (n = 242), Chiroxiphia caudata (n = 210), Platyrinchus mystaceus (n = 208), and Turdus rufiventris (n = 191). ATLANTIC BIRD TRAITS (ABT) is the most comprehensive data set on measurements of bird morphological traits found in a biodiversity hotspot; it provides data for basic and applied research at multiple scales, from individual to community, and from the local to the macroecological perspectives. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set. Please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications or teaching and educational activities.

Juliomys pictipes is a Sigmodontinae rodent endemic to the Atlantic Forest. Herein, we report the first records of the species on the coast of the state of Paraná, filling a gap in the species’ distribution. Records at low altitudes in the eastern part of the Serra do Mar confirm that the coastal mountains are not a barrier to the species’ distribution. Juliomys pictipes is an Atlantic Forest endemic Sigmodontinae rodent. Herein we report the first records of the species in the coast of the state of Paraná, filling a gap in the species distribution. Records at low altitudes at the eastern part of the Serra do Mar confirms that the coastal mountains are not a barrier to the species distribution.

Abrawayaomys ruschii is a rare sigmodontinae rodent with fewer than 10 known localities distributed in the states of Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina. Herein we report the first records for the state of Paraná in southern Brazil. These records expand the species distribution more than 450 km westwards from previous known localities.

Hydroelectrics are proposed as a solution to the increasing energy demand in developing countries. However, dams interrupt river flow; emit greenhouse gases, and cause habitat loss and fragmentation. Here, we evaluated changes in the diversity of small mammals during the construction of the Luis Eduardo Magalhaes hydroelectric dam in central Brazil. Two sites, both located above the maximum filling of the dam, were sampled before (2001) and after (2002) the flooding. We used wire mesh traps and sherman traps for the total capture effort of 5,940 trap-nights. We captured 88 individuals from 13 species – 5 marsupials and 7 rodents. We expected an increase in the abundance of small mammals immediately after the flooding due to the fleeing of individuals from the flooded areas, with a following increase in density dependent mortality. However, our results indicated lower values of abundance and/or richness of small mammals after the flooding. In addition, live traps were frequently found overturned and with signs of attacks from potential predators of small mammals. Results suggested that predation pressure probably increased after the flooding, thereby causing a reduction in the abundance and/or richness of small mammals. Key words: reservoir, sustainability, flooding, marsupials, rodents, Cerrado.

Habitat fragmentation is a process that modifies the structure of an original community, favouring species that are matrixtolerant and harming species that are continuous habitatdependent (Laurance et al. 2002). The use of space by animals in fragmented environments can be affected by the arrangement of areas of suitable habitat and by the ability of the individuals to move through areas that are different from the original habitat (Gascon et al. 1999, Passamani and Ribeiro 2009). The movements of an animal in space are governed by the availability of resources in the environment and by interactions between individuals (Brown and Orians 1970). Home range is the term used to refer to the area used by an individual for its common activities (Burt 1943), and it plays a central role in studies of space use by mammals. The area used by an individual during its daily activities, or the daily home range, is a space use measurement often used in studies with neotropical small marsupials and rodents analysed with the spool-and-line technique (Delciellos et al. 2006, Almeida et al. 2008, Vieira and Cunha 2008). The black-eared opossum Didelphis aurita (Wied-Neuwied, 1826) is a generalist and opportunist marsupial that can become abundant in fragmented environments in the absence of natural predators (Fonseca and Robinson 1990). It is nocturnal, solitary and omnivorous, and plays an important role in pioneer plant seed dispersion (Caceres and Monteiro-Filho 2000). In the southern part of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, the development of agricultural practices and urban centres has modified the original landscape in such a way that native vegetation habitat is found in small and fragmented patches. Due to the generalist and opportunist characteristics of D. aurita, it has apparently become abundant in the remaining forest patches of the region (Silva and Pas

Herein we report for the first time the occurrence of Phaenomys ferrugineus in the state of Minas Gerais and present additional data on the geographical distribution of Abrawayaomys ruschii and Rhagomys rufescens in this state. These latter two species were reported from some localities in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, but their presence in Minas Gerais state is restricted to few localities. These data reinforce the necessity of surveys over long periods of time and the use of pitfall traps in order to establish the real geographical distribution of small mammal species and to indicate priority areas for the conservation of this group of mammals.