Trophic ecology in matrix agriculture: use of isotopic tool for conservation of birds in anthropogenic landscape

• Grant number: 11/04046-0
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): August 01, 2011
• Effective date (End): March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Forestry Resources and Forestry Engineering - Nature Conservation
• Principal Investigator: Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz
• Grantee: Daniela Tomasio Apolinario da Luz
• Home Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The increase in the processes of habitat fragmentation in recent years has led to great concern to the conservation of biodiversity, where the loss of biotic interactions has gained prominence. The indication of the diet composition of bird inserted in the context of habitat fragmentation can contribute in determining the potential resilience of remnants located in fragmented landscapes, leading to a diagnosis of how these animals are contributing to the maintenance of remaining in degraded environments. Thus, this study will seek to evaluate the contribution of the sugar cane and pasture matrices and forest remnants in the diet composition of bird communities, elucidating the trophic relationships among species of the anthropogenic landscape of the Corumbataí river basin (SP), through the use of stable isotopes tool. We selected six sample units (16 km²) distributed in matrices of pasture and sugar cane, with at least 70% occupied by the matrix and 10% of forest. Based on analysis of the structure and dynamics of the landscape 10 forest remnants are being selected. The birds will be sampled by the method of mist nets (12 x 2.8 m long; 32 mm mesh), using a sequence of mist nets for the study site allocated within the forest remnants for a continuous period of six hours. The capture rate and the sampling effort needed in the area, as well as review time the mist nets will be determined after conducting a pilot project. Feathers and fecal material will be collected for isotopic analysis, and samples of the remaining food resources and environment, describing isotopically food resources used by species in agricultural matrices. We will analyze aspects of similarity between the diet composition of bird to the different matrices according to aspects of dynamics and landscape structure. Moreover, the proportion of items consumed will be compared between the dies and the forest remnants according to structural characteristics and historical use and occupation of the surroundings. The purchase of data to understand the behavior of resource use by birds in fragmented and anthropogenic landscapes can provide subsidies that enable the development of techniques and management strategies, restoration and effective conservation aimed the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

LUZ, Daniela Tomasio Apolinario da. Ecologia trófica em matrizes agrícolas: uso da ferramenta isotópica para conservação de aves em ambientes antrópicos. 2013. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz Piracicaba.