Response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal, Brazil
The Pantanal is a large savanna wetland (138,183 km² in Brazil), important for its wildlife, fed by tributaries of the upper Paraguay River, center of South America (Brazil, touching Bolivia and Paraguay). Uplands are plateaus (250-1,200 m high, 215,000 km² in Brazil) and flatland is the Pantanal (8...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
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| Series: | Brazilian Journal of Biology |
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| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842006000600006&lng=en&tlng=en |
| _version_ | 1828312938513956864 |
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| author | S. B. Mamede C. J. R. Alho |
| author_facet | S. B. Mamede C. J. R. Alho |
| author_sort | S. B. Mamede |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The Pantanal is a large savanna wetland (138,183 km² in Brazil), important for its wildlife, fed by tributaries of the upper Paraguay River, center of South America (Brazil, touching Bolivia and Paraguay). Uplands are plateaus (250-1,200 m high, 215,000 km² in Brazil) and flatland is the Pantanal (80-150 m high, 147,574 km² in Brazil). Rivers are slow moving when they meet the flatland (slope 0.3-0.5 m/km east-west; 0.03-0.15 m/km north-south), periodically overflowing their banks, creating a complex seasonal habitat range. Recurrent shallow flooding occupies 80% of the Pantanal; during the dry season flooded areas dry up. Fluctuating water levels, nutrients and wildlife form a dynamic ecosystem. A flooding regime forms distinct sub-regions within the Pantanal. A mammal survey was carried out in the sub-region of the Rio Negro from April, 2003 through March, 2004 to study the diversity and abundance of terrestrial mammals during the dry and flooding seasons. A total of 36 species were observed in the field. The capybara Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris was the most frequent species, followed by the crab-eating-fox Cerdocyon thous and the marsh deer Blastocerus dichotomus. The highest abundance of species was observed during the dry season (August and September), when there is a considerable expansion of terrestrial habitats, mainly seasonally flooded grassland. Animal abundance (in terms of observed individual frequencies) varied during the dry and wet seasons and the seasonally flooded grassland was the most utilized habitat by mammals in the dry season. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:23:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-010aa8b17a4c4ec5a89665ca8a171ca9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1678-4375 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T16:23:30Z |
| publisher | Instituto Internacional de Ecologia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brazilian Journal of Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-010aa8b17a4c4ec5a89665ca8a171ca92022-12-22T02:39:48ZengInstituto Internacional de EcologiaBrazilian Journal of Biology1678-437566499199810.1590/S1519-69842006000600006S1519-69842006000600006Response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal, BrazilS. B. Mamede0C. J. R. Alho1Universidade para o Desenvolvimento do Estado e da Região do PantanalUniversidade para o Desenvolvimento do Estado e da Região do PantanalThe Pantanal is a large savanna wetland (138,183 km² in Brazil), important for its wildlife, fed by tributaries of the upper Paraguay River, center of South America (Brazil, touching Bolivia and Paraguay). Uplands are plateaus (250-1,200 m high, 215,000 km² in Brazil) and flatland is the Pantanal (80-150 m high, 147,574 km² in Brazil). Rivers are slow moving when they meet the flatland (slope 0.3-0.5 m/km east-west; 0.03-0.15 m/km north-south), periodically overflowing their banks, creating a complex seasonal habitat range. Recurrent shallow flooding occupies 80% of the Pantanal; during the dry season flooded areas dry up. Fluctuating water levels, nutrients and wildlife form a dynamic ecosystem. A flooding regime forms distinct sub-regions within the Pantanal. A mammal survey was carried out in the sub-region of the Rio Negro from April, 2003 through March, 2004 to study the diversity and abundance of terrestrial mammals during the dry and flooding seasons. A total of 36 species were observed in the field. The capybara Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris was the most frequent species, followed by the crab-eating-fox Cerdocyon thous and the marsh deer Blastocerus dichotomus. The highest abundance of species was observed during the dry season (August and September), when there is a considerable expansion of terrestrial habitats, mainly seasonally flooded grassland. Animal abundance (in terms of observed individual frequencies) varied during the dry and wet seasons and the seasonally flooded grassland was the most utilized habitat by mammals in the dry season.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842006000600006&lng=en&tlng=enhabitatsmammalspantanalseasonalitywetland |
| spellingShingle | S. B. Mamede C. J. R. Alho Response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal, Brazil Brazilian Journal of Biology habitats mammals pantanal seasonality wetland |
| title | Response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal, Brazil |
| title_full | Response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal, Brazil |
| title_fullStr | Response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal, Brazil |
| title_full_unstemmed | Response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal, Brazil |
| title_short | Response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking-and-expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the Pantanal, Brazil |
| title_sort | response of wild mammals to seasonal shrinking and expansion of habitats due to flooding regime of the pantanal brazil |
| topic | habitats mammals pantanal seasonality wetland |
| url | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842006000600006&lng=en&tlng=en |
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