Conservation units in the core area of the Cerrado domain: an overview on the small nonvolant mammals (Rodentia and Didelphimorphia)

Cibele R Bonvicino,Alberto Da Costa Paula,Margaret M.O Corrêa,Ana Lazar,Alexandra M.R Bezerra,Marcelo Weksler

doi:10.17648/heringeriana.v8i2.105

Abstract

A review of small non-volant mammal species of the APA Gama e Cabeça de Veado was carried out, including new surveys in the ââ?¬Å?Estação Ecológica do Jardim Botânicoââ?¬Â (EEJBB) and ââ?¬Å?Reserva Ecológica do Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatísticaââ?¬Â (REIBGE). Thirty-one small mammalââ?¬â?¢s species are registered for the APA Gama and Cabeça de Veado, including one exotic species. Didelphis albiventris, Hylaeamys megacephalus, and Oxymycterus delator were collected for the first time in EEJBB. The APA Gama-Cabeça de Veado has a central position in the Cerrado domain sharing six species with the Amazon domain, five with Atlantic Forest, and 13 with Caatinga. The APA Gama-Cabeça de Veado encompasses the home range of at least six non-volant small mammal species endemic of Cerrado domain, and it has an important role in the protection of these endemic species and species that occurs in those four South America morphoclimatic domains.

Highlights

The Cerrado domain is an important center of South American endemism (Cracraft, 1985; Haffer, 1985; Müller, 1973; Rizzini, 1979)
Small nonvolant mammals of the orders Rodentia and Didelphimorphia compose the majority of endemic species of the Cerrado (Carmignotto et al, 2012; Marinho-Filho et al, 2002)
Eight marsupial and 23 rodent species were collected in the APA Gama e Cabeça de Veado (Table 1), including one exotic species, Mus musculus

Summary

Introduction

The Cerrado domain is an important center of South American endemism (Cracraft, 1985; Haffer, 1985; Müller, 1973; Rizzini, 1979). Small nonvolant mammals of the orders Rodentia and Didelphimorphia compose the majority of endemic species of the Cerrado (Carmignotto et al, 2012; Marinho-Filho et al, 2002). Small mammals present the highest specificity of habitat among the mammals of this domain, as well as limited dispersion capacity (e.g., Lacher et al, 1989; Lacher & Alho, 2001; Mares & Ernest, 1995). The richness of these taxonomic groups in the region shows the importance of a region as key to the biodiversity conservation, in both local and regional scales

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