Species Richness Hotspots for Non-Flying Mammals in the

1. Species Richness Hotspots for Non-Flying Mammals in the SooretamaBiological Reserve, Espírito Santo, Brazil Brandon LaBumbard (SUNY Oswego), Marcelo Mazzolli (UNIPLAC, Projeto Puma), Aliny Oliveira (Projeto Puma), Ryan Laughlin (SUNY Oswego), Nicole VanDeuson (SUNY Oswego) Introduction Methods Over the past century human encroachment over natural habitats has increased. The tropical forest ecosystems have been encroached upon the most thus resulting in habitat fragmentation and a loss of biodiversity. The Atlantic Rainforest is a species rich area that has been reduced by more than 90% as a result of human activities (Myers et al., 2000). Species richness and diversity are usually used to monitor the health of the ecosystem because if a habitat can harbor more of the expected resident species then the overall health is expected to be higher (Cam et al., 2002). Top predators provide essential roles for the sustainability of these ecosystems so monitoring their populations also enables researchers to infer on the overall health of the ecosystem. Projeto Puma, an NGO associated with the Universidade do PlanaltoCatarinense listed by the IUCN Cat Specialist Group’s as a priority project (Nowell& Jackson, 1996), conduct research in one of the few remaining intact patches of Atlantic Rainforest in Brazil, the Sooretama Biological Reserve. The Sooretama Biological Reserve and surrounding forest constitute one of the largest Atlantic Forest blocks north of Rio de Janeiro (Srbek-Araujo et al., 2009). The overall objective of the research expedition is to survey the presence, relative abundance, species richness, and distribution of threatened and endangered non-flying mammal species in this patch of Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil. The expedition took place at the Sooretama Biological Reserve in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil from July 16 to July 29, 2012. Field methods involved the daily surveying of 4km long trails to record tracks, visual and vocal identification, and other signs left by local non-flying mammals. Small mammal traps, track-traps, and camera traps were employed to record evidence of fauna. The track-traps were placed approximately every 200m along the trail and each trap was about 1m wide and 2m long. A GPS loaded with a map of the reserve with coded cells was used in the field so fauna could be recorded to the appropriate cells. The data was later compiled and sorted for analysis of species richness of the sampled areas of the reserve. Species richness was spatialized over the grid and categorized by color.The software employed for the analysis was TrackMaker for mapping, Photoshop for editing, and Excel for the graphs and regression. Figure 2. The map to the left shows the Atlantic Rainforest of EspíritoSanto, Brazil and the Sooretema Biological Reserve. The map to the right shows the Hydrographic system with roads and trails in the REBIO. Source: ICMBIO. Figure 3. The images show the methods of sampling: We used small mammal traps (Didelphisaurita), recorded tracks found on the trails we surveyed, used track-traps to record tracks of passing animals (Pantheraonca), and we used camera traps. Figure 1. Images depict a Crab-eating Fox (Cerdocyonthous) (left), a group picture of the Expedition team (middle), and a Seven-banded armadillo (Dasypusseptemcinctus) (right). Results We observed a total of 22 species over the course of the expedition that occurred in the Sooretama Biological Reserve. By using the recorded data of sightings and tracks we were able to verify the species identity, however there were 3 species identifications we were unable to distinguish apart as a result of species similarities. Species richness was greater in areas closer to a constant water source and along the fringe of the reserve (Fig. 3). Richness at higher taxonomic level show that the order Carnivora had the highest species richness, with 7 recorded species (Fig. 4). Species richness had no relationship with sampling effort by means of cell resampling (Fig. 5). Sampling effort was such that no ‘new’ species were sampled in the last sampling occasion, but not enough to show a stabilized asymptote (Fig. 6). Figure 6. The graph shows the relationship between the species diversity we recorded and the number of times the quadrats were resampled. We found there to be no correlation. Figure 7. The graph shows the species curve to estimate when all the local diversity will be sampled. As shown, higher diversity is founds in the beginning of the sampling and as the time increases the diversity decreases. Figure 4. Map of the sampled Grids showing which cells had the highest level of species richness at Sooretama Biological Reserve, ES, Brazil. Figure 5. This graph depicts the different orders of mammals recorded at the reserve during the expedition. Conclusion References Acknowledgements Species richness was greater in areas closer to a constant water source and along the fringe of the reserve. As this result does not relate with sampling effort, i.e., areas with higher sampling does not showed more species richness than the ones highlighted, it can thus be inferred that the species richness is not a result of a sampling artifact. During the expedition there was a drought and many watercourses were dry. This may explain the higher concentration of species along main watercourses. Cam, E., Nichols, J., Sauer, J., Hines, J. 2002. On the estimation of species richness based on the accumulation of previously unrecorded species. Ecography 25: 102-108. Chiarello, A. 1999. Effects of fragmentation of the Atlantic forest on mammal communities in south-eastern Brazil. Biological Conservation 89: 71-82 Myers, N., Mittermeier, R., Mittermeier, C., Fonseca, G., Kent, J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403: 853-858. Nowell, K., Jackson, P. 1996. Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN Publications, Cambridge, UK, 382 pp. Srbek-Araujo, A., Scoss, L., Hirsch, A., Chiarello, A. 2009. Records of the giant- armadillo Priodontes maximus (Cingulata: Dasypodidae) in the Atlantic Forest: are Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo the last strongholds of the species? Zoologia 26 (3): 461-468.