Abstract
The avifauna of the Araucaria forests in the higher reaches of the Serra da Mantiqueira massif is little known and poorly documented. This region is recognized as an important area of differentiation of birds in southeastern Brazil. Here, we present the first ornithological survey of the Araucaria forests and associated habitats in the mountains of extreme southern Minas Gerais state, near the southern tip of the Serra da Mantiqueira. The study area comprises the Serra do Juncal region and several adjacent sites, located in the municipalities of Gonçalves and Camanducaia. We recorded 206 bird species, of which 57 (27.7%) are endemic to the Atlantic forest. Several records represent the first specimens for Minas Gerais, in the hinterlands of Serra da Mantiqueira, proving that many Atlantic species also occur in the intern most slope of this mountain range. Examples are: Dysithamnus xanthopterus, Chamaeza ruficauda, Leptasthenura setaria, Heliobletus contaminatus, Hemitriccus obsoletus, Phylloscartes difficilis, Piprites pileata, Poospiza thoracica, and Cacicus chrysopterus. The region is also a previously unknown area of sympatry of other closely related species: Scytalopus notorius and S. speluncae, Lepidocolaptes squamatus and L. falcinellus, and Basileuterus culicivorus and B. hypoleucus. Both species of Lepidocolaptes and Basileuterus hybridize in the region. We also comment on the avifauna conservation, which have been threatened by eco-tourism, building of new styles of houses, domestic animals, forest fragmentation, and plantations.
Highlights
7.26% of the original cover of the Atlantic forest still persists in form of fragments (Ranta et al, 1998; Mittermeier et al, 1999; Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica & Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, 2008)
The Serra da Mantiqueira, located along the borders of the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro, is a mountain range extending in a southwest-northeast direction, parallel to the Paraíba do Sul river valley
The avifauna from the Araucaria forests has been surveyed in some detail in southern Brazil and northeastern Argentina (e.g., Rodrigues et al, 1981; Anjos, 1990, 1992, 1994; Berndt, 1992; Pichorim & Boçon, 1996; Anjos & Schuchmann, 1997; Anjos et al, 1997; Anjos & Boçon, 1999; Bencke & Kindel, 1999; Lima et al, 2001; Krauczuk & Baldo, 2004; Straube et al, 2005; Bodrati & Cockle, 2006a, b; Straube & Di Giácomo, 2007; Favretto et al, 2008), but this habitat has been little sampled in the Serra da Mantiqueira
Summary
7.26% of the original cover of the Atlantic forest still persists in form of fragments (Ranta et al, 1998; Mittermeier et al, 1999; Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica & Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, 2008). The avifauna from the Araucaria forests has been surveyed in some detail in southern Brazil and northeastern Argentina (e.g., Rodrigues et al, 1981; Anjos, 1990, 1992, 1994; Berndt, 1992; Pichorim & Boçon, 1996; Anjos & Schuchmann, 1997; Anjos et al, 1997; Anjos & Boçon, 1999; Bencke & Kindel, 1999; Lima et al, 2001; Krauczuk & Baldo, 2004; Straube et al, 2005; Bodrati & Cockle, 2006a, b; Straube & Di Giácomo, 2007; Favretto et al, 2008), but this habitat has been little sampled in the Serra da Mantiqueira Ornithological surveys in this region have been concentrated in São Paulo state, highlight‐ ing a bird collection from Campos do Jordão made by Hermann Lüderwaldt between 1905 and 1906, housed in the Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo (MZUSP) (Pinto, 1945). A few sparse ornithological records exist for some bird species in the Araucaria forests occur‐ ring in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro (e.g., Holt, 1928; Pinto, 1951, 1952, 1954; Mattos et al, 1991; Andrade, 1996; Andrade et al, 1997; Vasconcelos, 1999, 2008), and the avifauna of these areas has never been properly surveyed
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