scholarly journals Roadkills of Lowland Tapir Tapirus terrestris (Mammalia: Perissodactyla: Tapiridae) in one of its last refuges in the Atlantic Forest

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 19921-19929
Author(s):  
Aureo Banhos dos Santos ◽  
Andressa Gatti ◽  
Marcelo Renan de Deus Santos ◽  
Leonardo Merçon ◽  
Ilka Westermeyer ◽  
...  

Highways limit the movement and dispersion of wild animals and contribute to their loss due to roadkills, leading to the isolation and decline of populations, increasing the risk of local extinction. The Lowland Tapir Tapirus terrestris is the largest neotropical herbivore-frugivore, and despite its wide distribution in South America it is threatened with extinction. In this study we report six roadkill events of tapirs between 2014 and 2019 in a section of a federal highway crossing the mosaic of Atlantic Forest reserves called Sooretama, one of the last tapir refuges in southeastern Brazil. The traffic in this area is heavy with inadequate speed control, while exotic fruit trees growing along the highway attract wild animals. Water drainage tunnels serve as passageways for some species, including tapirs. However, the tunnels located under the highway are not continuously maintained, reducing its effectiveness. The loss of at least one tapir per year can have serious long-term consequences for one of the last viable lowland tapir populations in the entire Atlantic Forest. Emergency measures are required to avoid vehicle-tapir collisions.

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-141
Author(s):  
Edelcio Muscat ◽  
Elsie Rotenberg ◽  
Iberê Farina Machado

Tropidodryas serra is an endemic snake from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and despite its wide distribution, little is known about its ecology. Tropidodryas serra is an oviparous snake, but there are few available data on its  reproductive cycle. In this paper, we present the first report of oviposition of T. serra in captivity with successfully hatching. A pregnant female was captured in the area of Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Dacnis Project, Ubatuba-SP, southeastern Brazil, and held captive. The spawning of 7 eggs and the development of offspring were observed. The eggs (measuring 4x1.35 cm in average) hatched in 90 days, with 6 healthy neonates and 1 stillborn. Based on a unique successful hatching of T. serra eggs in captivity, the present study confirmed with naturalistic data reproductive characteristics of the species, such as egg laying in December and low number of atresic eggs, corroborating that the species should present few reproductive events and concentrated throughout the rainy season.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (04) ◽  
pp. 855-861
Author(s):  
Guilherme Siniciato Terra Garbino ◽  
◽  
Vinicius José Alves Pereira ◽  
Thais Pagotto ◽  
Paula Ribeiro Prist ◽  
...  

Myotis albescens has a wide distribution, occurring from southern Mexico to central Argentina and Uruguay, where it is usually caught near streams or flooded areas. M. albescens roosts during the day in cavities such as hollow logs, rock cavities, and buildings. Here, we describe a group of M. albescens roosting in a highway underpass in an Atlantic Forest area in Rancharia, southeastern Brazil. The group was found inside a culvert with a shallow stream passing through it. The animals left the roost and were mist-netted in the first hours of the night. The M. albescens group was composed of 18 individuals, eleven males and seven females. In October, all males had descended testes and two females were pregnant, as confirmed by abdominal palpation. Morphological characters of the specimens fell in the known variation for the species. Our data show that highway underpasses can be important day roosts for bats, especially if riparian areas are preserved


2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludmilla Moura de Souza Aguiar ◽  
Jader Marinho-Filho

Seasonal, monthly and hourly activity patterns of nine bat species were studied based on their capture rates at the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural Feliciano Miguel Abdala (RPPN-FMA), Caratinga, Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil. The frugivorous and nectarivorous bat species have their activity closely related to the availability of food. Divergence in monthly and hourly activity is discussed for pairs of similar species and the hypothesis of reduction in competition for nectarivorous and frugivorous species are rejected. Further studies on frugivores-plants interactions should be conducted to assess the long term consequences for the whole system at the RPPN-MFA.


2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Paula Pozzo Rios Rolla ◽  
Katharina Eichbaum Esteves ◽  
Antônio Olinto Ávila-da-Silva

This study aimed to characterize the trophic structure of the fish assemblage in streams of the Serra Japi, an ecotonal area between the Atlantic Forest and inland forests of São Paulo State, Southeastern Brazil. Fish were collected with electrofishing equipment in 15 sites covering different regions, substrate types and riparian vegetation, distributed throughout the Caguaçú River, Caxambú, Piraí and Guapeva River micro-basins, during the rainy (January/February) and dry season (June) of 2007. The 589 specimens analyzed from 22 species, were assigned to different trophic groups, discriminated through a matrix of similarity, based on the food index (IAi). The results show the formation of seven groups with a predominance of insectivorous and omnivorous species, followed by detritivores, piscivores, omnivore-carnivores and herbivores, which consumed mostly items of autochthonous origin, where algae and young insects were dominant. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA), correlating the biomass of trophic groups to environmental variables, showed that omnivores, insectivores and omnivore-carnivores displayed a wide distribution, while detritivores, herbivores and piscivores were restricted to specific locations, related to different physical and chemical variables as total nitrogen, conductivity and temperature. Despite the increase in total biomass at the most urbanized sites, the results indicate that the streams maintain a diverse community, suggesting that most of them are in preserved conditions.


2022 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Kevin M. Flesher ◽  
Emília Patrícia Medici

Tapirus terrestris is the largest South American land mammal, with an extensive historical distribution and capable of occupying diverse habitats, and yet its populations have declined across its range. In order to provide baseline data on the conservation status of tapirs in the Atlantic Forest, we conducted a long-term study in one landscape, visited 93 forests, and received 217 expert reports over the 15-year study. We estimate that 2,665–15,992 tapirs remain in 48 confirmed populations, occupying 26,654 km2 of forest or 1.78% of its original range in the biome. Historically, hunting and deforestation were the main causes of decline, but today population isolation is the principal long-term threat. Vortex models indicate that 31.3–68.8% and 70.8–93.8% of the populations are demographically and genetically non-viable over the next 100 years, respectively, and that only 3–14 populations are viable when considering both variables. Habitat use data indicate that tapirs are adaptable to disturbed and secondary forests and will use diverse tree plantations and agricultural lands but hunting and highways keep populations isolated. Reserve staff report tapirs as common/abundant at 62.2% of the sites, and populations as stable and growing in 60% and 36% of the sites, respectively, and there is ample habitat in the biome for a population expansion, but overcoming the causes of isolation will be necessary for this to occur. Lack of adequate funding for protecting reserves is a chronic threat throughout the biome, especially in federal and state/provincial reserves, and increased funding will be necessary to implement effective conservation plans.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariana Pignaton Gnocchi ◽  
Ana Carolina Srbek-Araujo

Abstract There are few studies on the diet of Common Vampire Bat (Desmodus rotundus), despite its wide geographic distribution. The species is considered exclusively hematophagous, and medium and large-sized mammals are their main prey. In this study we report evidences of Common Vampire Bat feeding on Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in a protected area located in the north of the state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil, from camera trap records. The bat tried to access the Lowland Tapir by the posterior dorsolateral side of the body, and used the mean stratum of the vegetation as a point of support and observation between the consecutive offensives on the prey. In the same reserve, there were also two events of bat offensives on domesticated ox (Bos sp.). But in these cases the attacks occurred from the scapular region of the prey. The record here reported represents the first documented attack of Desmodus rotundus on Tapirus terrestris in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and one of the first records in the South America as a whole. Previous records were in the Pantanal (Brazil) and in the Amazon rainforest (Ecuador). The feeding on wild and domestic prey by Desmodus rotundus in the same locality may favor the transmission of rabies to populations of wild mammals, as well as to domestic animals, and may represent an economic and public health issue with negative effects also for wildlife.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 457-464 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Silva de Oliveira ◽  
Matheus Alexandre Ferreira ◽  
Lidiane Maria da Silva ◽  
Mariana Borges Rodrigues ◽  
Sergian Vianna Cardozo ◽  
...  

Abstract Coccidia are protozoan parasites that are frequently observed in fecal samples from wild birds, and they are extremely important for biodiversity, host specificity and conservation. The aim of the present study was to identify and quantify the coccidian species from wild birds caught in a fragmented area of Atlantic Forest in the municipality of Guapimirim in the state of Rio de Janeiro, which is located around the Serra dos Órgãos National Park. A total of 101 birds were caught and identified. The highest prevalence and density were observed in the family Columbidae (Columbiformes). Among the families of Passeriformes, the highest prevalences and densities were of birds in the families Thraupidae and Turdidae. The majority of the positive samples and those with higher densities were collected in the afternoons. Eleven coccidian species of Isospora and Eimeria were identified. Seven of these species that were morphologically identified are undescribed in the scientific literature and are believed to be new species. The present study highlights the wide distribution and dispersion of coccidia of wild birds in southeastern Brazil, and records the municipality of Guapimirim, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, as a new locality for parasitism, along with the new hosts recorded.


Mammalia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 601-604
Author(s):  
Mariana Bueno Landis ◽  
Luciano Candisani ◽  
Leticia Prado Munhoes ◽  
João Carlos Zecchini Gebin ◽  
Frineia Rezende ◽  
...  

AbstractAlbinism is the absence of pigmentation or coloration and is rarely found in nature. In this study we examined photos and videos obtained by cameras traps in the Legado das Águas Reserve. In the images, we identified two albino lowland tapirs. The results highlight the necessity of understanding the genetic diversity of lowland tapir populations and the important role of the professional photography associated with scientific research.


FLORESTA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 485
Author(s):  
Lívia Mara Lima Goulart ◽  
Marianne Fidalgo de Faria ◽  
Grasiela Spada ◽  
Thiago Tássio de Souza Silva ◽  
Iraê Amaral Guerrini

The use of sewage sludge in agriculture and recovery of degraded areas has been shown as a promising alternative for its final destination. Studies on micronutrient levels after sludge application are necessary to avoid soil contamination at toxic levels. The objective of this work was to verify the micronutrient contents in the soil profile and pH, up to one-meter-deep, nine years after the application of sewage sludge and planting of native species of the Atlantic Forest. The experiment was implemented in a degraded Quartzeneic Neosol and conducted in randomized blocks with four replicates and eight treatments, consisting of six doses of sewage sludge (0, 2.5, 5, 10, 15 and 20 Mg ha-1, with supplementation of potassium due to low concentration in the residue), besides the control treatment, mineral fertilization and only potassium supplementation. After nine years, the contents of all micronutrients evaluated presented a significant response to the application of the treatments, and the application of sewage sludge provided an increase in their contents. Soil pH remained stable at sites receiving mineral fertilization and potassium supplementation. Only manganese and zinc showed mobility in the soil profile. The application of sewage sludge in degraded soil increases the micronutrient content and decreases its movement in the soil profile, and the application of the maximum dose of the residue does not provide toxic levels of these elements in the soil in the long term.


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