Abstract
The northwestern portion of the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest ecoregion is one of the most disturbed and fragmented areas in the Atlantic Forest, and little is known about the local avifauna. In this study, we have described the composition and diversity of the aquatic avifauna of this region and analyzed the patterns of similarity with respect to the seasonal as well as spatial distribution. We used the line transect sampling technique in six distinct humid areas (including lentic and lotic water bodies) during the dry and rainy seasons of 2012 and 2013. A total of 52 species of waterfowl were recorded. The species richness of the studied areas was surprisingly distinct; only seven waterfowl species, namely Cairina moschata (Linnaeus, 1758), Tigrisoma lineatum (Boddaert, 1783), Rosthramus sociabilis (Vieillot, 1817), Aramus guarauna (Linnaeus, 1766), Vanellus chilensis (Molina, 1782), Jacana jacana (Linnaeus, 1766), and Arundinicola leucocephala (Linnaeus, 1764), were common to these six studied areas. This indicated that the other bird species that were observed might be habitat selective. Moreover, the analysis of the composition of birds in the two seasons (dry and rainy) combined with their spatial distributions showed significant dissimilarities between the areas with lotic (river and constructed wetland) and lentic (lagoons) characteristics. Nevertheless, despite the small extent and low total richness of the entire study area, it was found to be home to 1/3 of all freshwater aquatic birds documented in the state of São Paulo, with the record of 5 migratory species and 11 new species added to the northwest of the state. The heterogeneity of local aquatic environments, habitat selection combined with seasonality, and the absence of other humid locations in the surroundings can explain the diversity and distribution of these birds in the water bodies of this uninvestigated Atlantic Forest ecoregion.
Highlights
Protected wetland areas are essential for conserving biodiversity in the face of rapid anthropogenic land use changes and a changing climate (Beatty et al, 2014)
The study was conducted in Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural (RPPN) Foz do Rio Aguapeí of Companhia Energética de São Paulo (CESP)
10 species were unique to the dry season, namely D. bicolor, Tachybaptus dominicus (Linnaeus, 1766), Podilymbus podiceps (Linnaeus, 1758), Jabiru mycteria (Lichtenstein, 1819), Egretta thula (Molina, 1782), Pardirallus nigricans (Vieillot, 1819), Gallinula galeata (Lichtenstein, 1818), Porphyriops melanops (Vieillot, 1819), P. martinica, and R. niger
Summary
Protected wetland areas are essential for conserving biodiversity in the face of rapid anthropogenic land use changes and a changing climate (Beatty et al, 2014). Large parts of the forest are still conserved in the southern part, the northwestern part is severely fragmented. This deforestation has occurred due to extensive agriculture, irregular land occupation, dam construction, and unsustainable use of the native forest; this, in turn, has led to illegal hunting. Inventories focusing on waterfowl species are of central importance because such birds and their environments require conservation efforts (Donatelli et al, 2014) According to Silveira and Uezu (2011), the understanding of birdlife in this ecoregion “still has important knowledge gaps and should be the subject of more intense inventories.” inventories focusing on waterfowl species are of central importance because such birds and their environments require conservation efforts (Donatelli et al, 2014)
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