Artículos de revistas
The distribution and abundance of small mammals in agroecosystems of southeastern Brazil
Fecha
2012Registro en:
MAMMALIA, BERLIN, v. 76, n. 2, supl. 6, Part 1, pp. 185-191, MAY, 2012
0025-1461
10.1515/mammalia-2011-0109
Autor
Gheler-Costa, Carla
Vettorazzi, Carlos Alberto
Pardini, Renata
Verdade, Luciano Martins
Institución
Resumen
The conservation of biodiversity in agricultural landscapes depends on information about the ways in which species are affected by the conversion of native habitats into novel anthropogenic environments and the strategies that the species use to persist in these altered ecosystems. Here, we investigate how small mammals occupy the different agroecosystems of an agricultural landscape in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. From August 2003 through January 2005, we surveyed small mammals using Sherman traps at 16 sampling sites in each of the four predominant environments of the local agricultural landscape: remnant fragments of semideciduous forest, Eucalyptus plantations, sugarcane plantations, and pastures. With a total effort of 23,040 trap-nights and a capture success of 0.8%, we captured 177 rodents and marsupials belonging to eight species. The assemblage represented by these mammals is essentially composed of generalist species, which are common in degraded areas. Sugarcane plantations had the highest abundance, whereas pastures had the lowest species richness. Our results suggest that the loss of forest species can be related to the loss of native forest. The results also indicate that to improve the conservation value of agricultural landscapes, native forest fragments should be conserved, extensive monocultures should be avoided and agricultural impacts should be mitigated.