Use of habitats by non-volant small mammals in Cerrado in Central Brazil

Non-volant small mammals are organisms capable of yielding precise information on richness, abundance and species composition variations related to the use of habitats. The aim of this research was to compare these variations in Cerrado sensu stricto, Palm Forest, Gallery Forest and Rocky Field. Fro...

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Main Authors: M. Santos-Filho, F. Frieiro-Costa, ÁRA. Ignácio, MNF. Silva
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Instituto Internacional de Ecologia
Series:Brazilian Journal of Biology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842012000500016&lng=en&tlng=en
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author M. Santos-Filho
F. Frieiro-Costa
ÁRA. Ignácio
MNF. Silva
author_facet M. Santos-Filho
F. Frieiro-Costa
ÁRA. Ignácio
MNF. Silva
author_sort M. Santos-Filho
collection DOAJ
description Non-volant small mammals are organisms capable of yielding precise information on richness, abundance and species composition variations related to the use of habitats. The aim of this research was to compare these variations in Cerrado sensu stricto, Palm Forest, Gallery Forest and Rocky Field. From May 1999 to February 2000, we surveyed non-volant small mammals (hence small mammals) in Serra das Araras Ecological Station. We captured 218 individuals and recaptured 62 individuals, belonging to 21 taxa, 13 rodents and eight marsupials, in a total of 13200 trap-nights. Capture success was 1.7%. We observed higher richness of small mammals in forested areas (Gallery Forest and Palm Forest) than in open areas (Rocky Field and Cerrado sensu stricto). The Palm Forest had the highest richness of marsupials, possibly due to the quality of a specific niche. The Rocky Field had the smallest richness, but with very high abundance of few species, mainly Thrichomys pachyurus and Monodelphis domestica. Forest habitats had similar species composition. The open habitats, Cerrado sensu stricto and Rocky Field, had a distinct species composition between them, and also when compared to forested areas. Different species are exclusive or showed preference for specific habitats. The protection of horizontally heterogeneous biomes, such as Cerrado, has a fundamental importance to the maintenance of the regional diversity of the small mammal community of Central Brazil.
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spelling doaj.art-93e86a8ebde24398848545a91871ecf52022-12-22T03:57:27ZengInstituto Internacional de EcologiaBrazilian Journal of Biology1678-437572489390210.1590/S1519-69842012000500016S1519-69842012000500016Use of habitats by non-volant small mammals in Cerrado in Central BrazilM. Santos-Filho0F. Frieiro-Costa1ÁRA. Ignácio2MNF. SilvaUniversidade do Estado de Mato GrossoCentro Universitário de LavrasUniversidade do Estado de Mato GrossoNon-volant small mammals are organisms capable of yielding precise information on richness, abundance and species composition variations related to the use of habitats. The aim of this research was to compare these variations in Cerrado sensu stricto, Palm Forest, Gallery Forest and Rocky Field. From May 1999 to February 2000, we surveyed non-volant small mammals (hence small mammals) in Serra das Araras Ecological Station. We captured 218 individuals and recaptured 62 individuals, belonging to 21 taxa, 13 rodents and eight marsupials, in a total of 13200 trap-nights. Capture success was 1.7%. We observed higher richness of small mammals in forested areas (Gallery Forest and Palm Forest) than in open areas (Rocky Field and Cerrado sensu stricto). The Palm Forest had the highest richness of marsupials, possibly due to the quality of a specific niche. The Rocky Field had the smallest richness, but with very high abundance of few species, mainly Thrichomys pachyurus and Monodelphis domestica. Forest habitats had similar species composition. The open habitats, Cerrado sensu stricto and Rocky Field, had a distinct species composition between them, and also when compared to forested areas. Different species are exclusive or showed preference for specific habitats. The protection of horizontally heterogeneous biomes, such as Cerrado, has a fundamental importance to the maintenance of the regional diversity of the small mammal community of Central Brazil.http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842012000500016&lng=en&tlng=enCerradoEcological StationSerra das Ararasecology of mammals
spellingShingle M. Santos-Filho
F. Frieiro-Costa
ÁRA. Ignácio
MNF. Silva
Use of habitats by non-volant small mammals in Cerrado in Central Brazil
Brazilian Journal of Biology
Cerrado
Ecological Station
Serra das Araras
ecology of mammals
title Use of habitats by non-volant small mammals in Cerrado in Central Brazil
title_full Use of habitats by non-volant small mammals in Cerrado in Central Brazil
title_fullStr Use of habitats by non-volant small mammals in Cerrado in Central Brazil
title_full_unstemmed Use of habitats by non-volant small mammals in Cerrado in Central Brazil
title_short Use of habitats by non-volant small mammals in Cerrado in Central Brazil
title_sort use of habitats by non volant small mammals in cerrado in central brazil
topic Cerrado
Ecological Station
Serra das Araras
ecology of mammals
url http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1519-69842012000500016&lng=en&tlng=en
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