scholarly journals Edge effects and landscape matrix use by a small mammal community in fragments of semideciduous submontane forest in Mato Grosso, Brazil

2008 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 703-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Santos-Filho ◽  
DJ. da Silva ◽  
TM. Sanaiotti
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Species Accumulation Curves ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Mato Grosso ◽  
Species Accumulation ◽  
Species Richness And Abundance

A community of small mammals was studied in seasonal semideciduous submontane forest in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil. This study evaluated the use of edge and matrix pasture, by different small mammal species. Overall, 31 areas were studied, with a total sampling effort of 33,800 trap x nights. Only seven of the 25 species captured in the study sites were able to use the pasture matrix; we classified these species as generalists. Fourteen species were found to be intermediate in habits, being able to use forest edges. We found only four species habitat specialists, occurring only on transect lines in the interior of the fragment, at least 150 m from the edge. Transects located in the pasture matrix and 50 m from the edge had significantly lower species richness and abundance than transects located in the fragment edge or in the interior of the fragment. All transects located within the fragment had similar species richness and abundance, but transects located 50 m from the edge had slightly lower, but non-significant, species richness than transects located 100 m apart from edges. Rarefaction curves demonstrated that only medium-sized fragments (100 300 ha) reached an asymptote of species accumulation. The other areas require further sampling, or more sampling transect, before species accumulation curves stabilize, due to a continued increase in species number.

Small-mammal species richness and abundance along a tropical altitudinal gradient: an Australian example

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooke L. Bateman ◽  
Alex S. Kutt ◽  
Eric P. Vanderduys ◽  
Jeanette E. Kemp
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Altitudinal Gradient ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Lower Productivity ◽  
Habitat Factors ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern ◽  
Species Richness And Abundance ◽  
Small Mammal Species

Abstract:This study examined patterns in the species richness and abundance of small non-volant mammals along a tropical altitudinal gradient in north-eastern Australia. We investigated whether a mid-altitudinal peak in diversity was apparent, and if it occurred, whether it was determined by particular environmental conditions. We sampled a small-mammal assemblage at 17 sites distributed along an altitude-environmental gradient from savanna (350 m) to rain-forest vegetation (1000 m). Over four separate occasions (5100 trap-nights) we recorded 17 species of mammal with 416 captures. A positive non-linear relationship between altitude and mammal species richness and abundance was observed, peaking at the 800–900 m range. Many species were distributed across a range of altitudes, while others were strongly associated with particular habitat conditions. There was a distinct reduction in abundance and species richness at low altitudes associated with the less complex vegetation, lower productivity and possible anthropogenic effects. Key findings were: that small-mammal richness peaked towards the summit of the gradient and not at one-half the maximum altitude predicted by the mid-domain effect; contrasting conditions and greatest vegetation juxtaposition had the greatest influence on the patterns recorded; and that local idiosyncratic influences such as habitat factors, land management and historical biogeography are significant.

scholarly journals Anurans of the Parque Estadual do Mirador, a remnant of Cerrado in the state of Maranhão, Northeastern Brazil

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Etielle Barroso de Andrade ◽  
Luiz Norberto Weber ◽  
José Roberto de Souza Almeida Leite
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Central Region ◽  
Wide Distribution ◽  
The State ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
The South ◽  
Cerrado Biome ◽  
South Central

Abstract The Cerrado is one of the most threatened biomes in Brazil. It is estimated that much of its original vegetation has been replaced by some type of human use. This is quite worrying, mainly in the northern part where the number of wildlife inventories is insufficient and creates the false impression of low diversity in the region. The Parque Estadual do Mirador-PEM, located in the south-central region of the state of Maranhão, presents vegetation typical of the Cerrado biome and corresponds to one of 46 priority areas for conservation in the state. Herein, we describe the species richness and composition of the anurofauna from the PEM and analyze the influence of different types of vegetation in its formation. Our inventory was conducted from December 2013 to February 2015, using the active search and auditory census methods on breeding sites in different water bodies of the park. We recorded 31 anuran species belonging to five families (species number in parentheses): Leptodactylidae (14), Hylidae (12), Bufonidae (3), Microhylidae (1) and Phyllomedusidae (1). The rarefaction curve and species richness estimators indicated that the sampling effort was enough to record most of the species in the region. The richness of anurans in the PEM was higher than reported by other authors for several areas of Cerrado. Most species have a wide distribution in Brazil or are strongly associated with the Caatinga or Amazon biomes. Only about 19% are endemic to the Cerrado biome. This study is the first to inventory the anurans species of the south-central region of state of Maranhão and provides important data on amphibian communities from the northern part of the Brazilian Cerrado.

scholarly journals The endophytic community of Dactylis glomerata

2007 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
Sánchez Márquez ◽  
G.F. Bills ◽  
I. Zabalgogeazcoa
Keyword(s):  
Fungal Endophytes ◽  
Dactylis Glomerata ◽  
Molecular Methods ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Species Accumulation Curves ◽  
Species Accumulation ◽  
Unknown Species ◽  
Ecological Roles ◽  
Accumulation Curves ◽  
Endophytic Community

Morphological and molecular methods were used to identify the endophytic mycobiota of the grass Dactylis glomerata. Fungal endophytes belonging to 109 different species were isolated from asymptomatic plants sampled in different ecosystems in Spain. Species accumulation curves showed that most species commonly infecting this grass have been identified, but the number of singleton species occasionally infecting the plants is likely to increase with more sampling effort. A large endophytic assemblage consisting of fungi with diverse ecological roles, and potentially unknown species was found in a small number of plants. Keywords: endophytes, Dactylis glomerata, diversity, abundance

Watershed-level sampling effort requirements for determining riverine fish species composition

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1580-1588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine L Smith ◽  
Michael L Jones
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
Correlation Coefficients ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Species Accumulation Curves ◽  
Targeted Sampling ◽  
Weak Negative Correlation ◽  
Fish Species Composition ◽  
Riverine Fish

Accurate assessments of watershed-level species composition are necessary for comparative ecological studies, ecosystem health assessments, monitoring, and aquatic conservation prioritization. Several studies have addressed sampling effort requirements for characterizing fish species composition at a section of stream, but none have examined watershed-level requirements. In the spring and summer of 2002, we extensively sampled nine Great Lakes watersheds to assess sampling-effort requirements. Sampling requirements increased with the targeted percentage of estimated species richness. Sampling 15–119 randomly selected reaches of stream, stratified by stream order, was on average sufficient to detect 80%–100% of estimated species richness. Watershed size (km2) and estimated species richness each showed a weak, negative correlation with sampling-effort requirements in our study streams, with Pearson's correlation coefficients of –5.06 and –0.590, respectively. Because of among-watershed variability in sampling effort requirements, field crews should plot species accumulation curves onsite to determine adequate inventory completion. Based on the difficulty of detecting the last 10% of species, random sampling should be conducted in conjunction with targeted sampling of rare species.

scholarly journals Diversity of small land mammals in a subtropical Atlantic forest in the western region of the state of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Renan Maestri ◽  
Daniel Galiano ◽  
Bruno Busnello Kubiak ◽  
Jorge Reppold Marinho
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Spatial Autocorrelation ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Interior Forest

Small land mammals possess features that significantly influence the dynamics of ecosystems and participate in various levels of the food web. In the Brazilian Atlantic Forest the richness of these animals is high, which makes them even more ecologically and numerically relevant in this environment. In this context, we investigated the species composition of small mammals in an unexplored area of southern Brazil, and compared the species composition of this area with other Atlantic Forest regions in order to understand how this community is related to others. The study area was located in an interior Atlantic forest formation, at a transition region between deciduous and Araucaria forests. Small mammals were captured at five collection points using pitfall traps. We compared the species composition found in our studied area with the composition of other 11 studies in different regions by a cluster analysis, and we investigated the presence of spatial autocorrelation between communities with a Mantel test. We recorded 779 individuals from 21 species of small rodents (15 species) and marsupials (six species) during the 13 months of the collection period. This richness was high compared to other studies conducted in the Atlantic Forest formations near to coastline and in interior forest formations. This may be a result of the conditions provided by this transition area (deciduous and Araucaria forests), where could be found elements of the both forests formations, which probably allows the establishment of small mammal species from both forest types. Despite differences in sampling effort of the studies, our results suggest that the interior forest formations may harbor a number of species comparable to the formations near the coast. The species composition of this area was similar to those found in other interior forest formations with the same phytophysiognomy characteristics and at nearby regions, and it was less similar to the distant formations located in southeastern and northeastern Brazil and nearby to the coastline. This can be a result of both the spatial autocorrelation (i.e. more nearby communities tend to have more similar species composition) and the differences of forest characteristics among regions.

Distributional patterning of mammals on the Wessel and English Company Islands, Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia

1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 87 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. C. Z. Woinarski ◽  
C. Palmer ◽  
A. Fisher ◽  
K. Brennan ◽  
R. Southgate ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Rattus Rattus ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Capra Hircus ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Suitable Habitat ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Island Size ◽  
Arnhem Land

Eighteen non-marine mammal species (including seven species of bats) were recorded from a total of 49 islands in the Wessel and English Company island chains off north-eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. Most individual species were restricted to, or had higher incidence on, larger islands, and species richness as a whole increased as island size increased. The most notable exception was the semi-aquatic Hydromys chrysogaster, which occurred relatively equitably across island sizes; this species, two bat species and the macropod Petrogale brachyotis were recorded from islands smaller than 10 ha. However, the variation between islands in the number of native terrestrial mammal species was not best predicted by island size, but rather by a combination of sampling effort and altitude (which explained 64% of the deviance in species richness), or altitude and distance to larger land mass (explaining 63% of deviance). Richness–area patterns for individual islands in these chains were reasonably consistent with those of other islands sampled in northern Australia. However, the fauna of the Wessel and English Company groups as a whole was less rich than that of the Pellew and Kimberley islands, and individual islands appeared to have lower species richness than comparable mainland areas. Species that were notably absent or that were recorded from relatively few islands include large macropods, Tachyglossus aculeatus, Antechinus bellus, Phascogale tapoatafa, Sminthopsis spp., Mesembriomys gouldii, Rattus colletti, Leggadina lakedownensis and Pseudomys calabyi. Some of these species may be absent through lack of suitable habitat; others have presumably disappeared since isolation, possibly due to Aboriginal hunting. Richness at the quadrat (50 × 50 m) scale was generally very low. Habitat relationships are described for the 7 species recorded from more than 5 quadrats. At a quadrat-scale, the richness of native mammals was greater on islands larger than 1000 ha than on islands smaller than 1000 ha. Quadrat-scale species richness varied significantly among the islands sampled by the most quadrats (even when the comparison was restricted to either of the two most extensive vegetation types), but this variation was not closely related to either area or altitude. The two most frequently recorded species, the rodents Melomys burtoni and Zyzomys argurus, showed distinct habitat segregation on islands where both were present, but tended to expand their habitat range on islands where only one of the species occurred. The most notable conservation feature of the mammal fauna of the Wessel and English Company Islands is the occurrence of the golden bandicoot, Isoodon auratus, a vulnerable species apparently now extinct on the Northern Territory mainland. Four feral animal species (Rattus rattus, Canis familiaris, Bubalus bubalis and Capra hircus) were recorded from a total of 6 islands.

Maximum local helminth parasite community richness in British freshwater fish: a test of the colonization time hypothesis

Parasitology ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.-F. Guégan ◽  
C. R. Kennedy
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Host Range ◽  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Host Species ◽  
Fish Host ◽  
Helminth Species ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Sampling Effort ◽  
Component Community ◽  
Colonization Time

SUMMARYThe investigation of Price & Clancy (1983), which demonstrated a significant positive correlation between total helminth species number per host species and geographical range of freshwater fish host species in Britain, was re-examined using a different measure of parasite species richness. Re-calculation of the correlations between the two parameters after controlling for the effect of the composition of the list of fish by excluding, on biological and distributional grounds, 2 species of agnathans and 7 species of introduced teleosts, and for the effect of sampling effort by using helminth richness in the richest component community of each fish species rather than check-list data, reveals no significant relationship between helminth species richness and host range. Habitat and an omnivorous host diet now appear more significant determinants of helminth richness than the accumulation of parasites by predation. The findings provide little support for the interpretation of the relationship between helminth species richness and host range in terms of island biogeographic theory, but do support an alternative explanation in terms of the colonization time hypothesis, i.e. that helminth species richness is related to the time since the fish host arrived in Britain.

scholarly journals Preliminary data on the Posidonia meadows and associated macrozoobenthic community of Sazani island (Albania)

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jula Selmani ◽  
Stela Ruci ◽  
Denada Kasemi ◽  
Sajmir Beqiraj ◽  
Lefter Kashta
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Marine Protected Area ◽  
Rapid Assessment ◽  
Posidonia Oceanica ◽  
The State ◽  
Macroinvertebrate Community ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Benthic Macroinvertebrate ◽  
Species Number ◽  
Species Richness And Abundance

The seagrass Posidonia oceanica meadows are scarcely studied in the Albanian coast. Data presented in this work have been collected during an assessment of benthic communities of Sazani Island, Albania, in May 2013. The P. oceanica meadow has a limited distribution around this island, covering a relatively small area on its eastern coast. Although this meadow seems to be under degradation, it is still a good shelter for high species number and high abundance of benthic macroinvertebrates. The highest species richness and abundance has been recorded for sponges, hydrozoans, gastropods, bivalves, polychaetes, echinoderms, bryozoans and ascidians. The sciaphilic and photophilic communities were clearly evident, associated respectively to the P. oceanica rhizomes and leaves. Referring to the species richness and abundance, a rapid assessment of ecological and environmental state of benthic macroinvertebrate community has been done. Other parameters used for the assessment of the state of P. oceanica meadow have also been recorded, and possible reasons for the degradation of the meadow have been highlighted. These assessments of the benthic macroinvertebrate community and the state of seagrass meadow are also important within the framework of monitoring, conservation and management of the only Marine Protected Area of Albania, where Sazani Island is a core area.

The scientific, financial and ethical implications of three common wildlife-trapping designs

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (8) ◽  
pp. 690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen P. Waudby ◽  
Sophie Petit ◽  
Matthew J. Gill
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Capture Rate ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Ethical Implications ◽  
Small Mammal Species ◽  
Capture Rates

Abstract ContextTrapping design influences information collected about wildlife populations and biodiversity. Trapping is also resource-intensive and has animal welfare implications. AimsThe scientific, financial and ethical performances of three trap designs were compared for estimating diversity and sampling small vertebrates. MethodsSmall vertebrates were trapped over 16 trapping sessions, from April 2009 to May 2011, with aluminium box-style (Elliott) traps and two pitfall trap designs (shallow–wide and deep–narrow), in an arid environment. Key resultsShallow pitfalls recorded highest overall species richness (S=22) and diversity (qD=10.622), reptile diversity (qD=8.112) and reptile capture rates (13.600 individuals per 100 trap nights). Shallow and deep pitfalls sampled ~79.0% and 85.0% (respectively) more small mammals than did Elliott traps. Deep pitfalls sampled the greatest diversity (qD=6.017) and number (29.700 individuals per 100 trap nights) of small mammals, and captured the greatest number of small mammal species (0.003) and individuals (0.106) per dollar. Shallow pitfalls were the most cost-efficient trap type for sampling reptile species (0.003) and individuals (0.044) per dollar. Between-session recapture rates were greatest in Elliott traps, indicating an increased likelihood of biased capture rates for certain small mammal species over time. Elliott traps were the least efficient traps on most scientific and cost measures, and recorded the greatest overall recapture rates, particularly for Sminthopsis crassicaudata and S. macroura. Body size of one species only, the nationally threatened Pseudomys australis, influenced its capture rate, with larger individuals more likely to be caught in deep pitfalls. Mortality was highest in pitfalls and mostly related to interactions between animals caught in the same trap. Key conclusionsShallow pitfalls are suitable for studies focused on estimating species richness, and reptile diversity and abundance. Deep pitfalls are cost-effective for sampling small mammals. Ethical issues associated with pitfalls could be managed by checking traps more often at night, and/or including materials that provide increased protection from predators caught in the same trap, particularly during periods of high abundance. ImplicationsTrap design profoundly influences cost-effectiveness and welfare outcomes of wildlife research. We provide a tool to assist cost-benefit related decisions.

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