Mammals of a forest fragment in Cambuci municipality, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Hermano Gomes Albuquerque,Nina Attias,Maria Carlota Enrici,Júlia Lins Luz,Helena De Godoy Bergallo,Flávia Soares Pessôa,Paula Ferreira Martins,Tássia Jordão-Nogueira,Daniel S L Raíces,Isadora Cristina Motta Lessa,Thiago Carvalho Modesto,Natalia Carneiro Ardente

doi:10.15560/9.6.1505

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest is considered a hotspot due to its current state of vast degradation and high indexes of biodiversity. This biome has been degraded through the years by processes resulting from the Brazilian socioeconomic model of development. The seasonal semi-deciduous Atlantic Forest is a poorly studied phytophysiognomy specially degraded by human activities in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In the present study we report the results of a rapid mammalian inventory conducted in the municipality of Cambuci, in a fragment of seasonal semi-deciduous forest. We used live traps and pitfall traps to capture non-volant small mammals, and mist-nets of different lengths to collect bats. To sample medium and large-sized mammals we used camera traps. We recorded 27 mammal species in the region, of which 16 are volant mammals. We emphasize the distribution extension of Trinomys setosus in 150 km (that enabled its insertion in the species list of Rio de Janeiro) and the capture of Lonchophylla peracchii, a recently described species apparently restricted to Atlantic Forest. Both facts show the importance of the fragment for the region biodiversity.

Highlights

The Atlantic Forest has been degraded by activities such as the uncontrolled extractivism, livestock farming, extensive agriculture, and by processes related to industrialization and urbanization (Rocha et al 2003; Bergallo et al 2009)
From the original extension of the Atlantic Forest, 11.7% remains, of which only 1.62% is located in protected areas (Ribeiro et al 2009)
Mata Atlântica and INPE 2009 or Fidalgo et al 2009, respectively), the forest remnants are dispersed and fragmented (Fidalgo et al 2009). These remnants occur in the six phytophysiognomy units present in the State (Costa et al 2009): dense rainforest, mixed rainforest, seasonal semi-deciduous forest, pioneer formations, stepic savanna, and savanna

Summary

Introduction

The Atlantic Forest has been degraded by activities such as the uncontrolled extractivism, livestock farming, extensive agriculture, and by processes related to industrialization and urbanization (Rocha et al 2003; Bergallo et al 2009) Such processes were responsible for the removal of large portions of native plant cover (Bergallo et al 2000; Fundação S.O.S. Mata Atlântica and Fundação Renctas 2005). Despite its higher percentage of native plant cover compared to other Brazilian states, which varies from 19.60% to 20.33% depending on the authors (according to Fundação S.O.S. Mata Atlântica and INPE 2009 or Fidalgo et al 2009, respectively), the forest remnants are dispersed and fragmented (Fidalgo et al 2009). Despite its large extension in the state, 90% of the seasonal semi-deciduous forest cover has vanished, and only 0.2% of its area is protected in reserves (Costa et al 2009). 48.9% of the forest remnants have at maximum 100 ha (Fidalgo et al 2009)

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Results