Functional changes in frugivorous bird assemblages along a fragmentation gradient

• Grant number: 14/23809-2
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Effective date (Start): March 13, 2015
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal researcher: Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz
• Grantee: Alex Augusto de Abreu Bovo
• Supervisor abroad: Joseph Andrew Tobias
• Home Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Oxford, England
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/24929-9 - Bird assemblages as indicator of forest quality, BP.MS

Abstract

Habitat fragmentation has resulted in modifications to the composition of different vertebrate assemblages. Frugivorous birds are considered one of the functional groups most impacted bylogging and fragmentation in the Atlantic Forest. The aim of this study is to compare frugivorous bird assemblage composition at different proportion of habitat (e.g., 5%, 15%, 30%, 45%, 60%, 75%, 90% of forest cover) in landscapes of 800m radius in the Atlantic Forest fragments. For this, we searched through checklists across the entire biome, from areas with high levels of human disturbance to conserved areas. To characterize the fragments inserted in landscapes, we will measure metrics like patch size, patch shape, and connectivity. Regarding bird assemblages, we will use functional diversity measures such as presence/absence of species and species traits. This data will be related by model constructions, and the landscapes traits that show relationship will be used to investigate pattern changes in frugivorous assemblages. Afterwards the data will be discussed with an expert researcher in tropical community ecology, resulting in an international paper about the relationship between frugivorous species and forest fragmentation. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BOVO, ALEX A. A.; FERRAZ, KATIA M. P. M. B.; MAGIOLI, MARCELO; ALEXANDRINO, EDUARDO R.; HASUI, ERICA; RIBEIRO, MILTON C.; TOBIAS, JOSEPH A. Habitat fragmentation narrows the distribution of avian functional traits associated with seed dispersal in tropical forest. PERSPECTIVES IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, v. 16, n. 2, p. 90-96, APR-JUN 2018. Web of Science Citations: 5.

DE ABREU BOVO, ALEX AUGUSTO; MAGIOLI, MARCELO; PERCEQUILLO, ALEXANDRE REIS; KRUSZYNSKI, CECILIA; ALBERICI, VINICIUS; MELLO, MARCO A. R.; CORREA, LIDIANI SILVA; ZECCHINI GEBIN, JOAO CARLOS; GOMES RIBEIRO, YURI GERALDO; COSTA, FRANCISCO BORGES; RAMOS, VANESSA NASCIMENTO; BENATTI, HECTOR RIBEIRO; LOPES, BEATRIZ; MARTINS, MASA Z. A.; DINIZ-REIS, THAIS ROVERE; DE CAMARGO, PLNIO BARBOSA; LABRUNA, MARCELO BAHIA; MICCHI DE BARROS FERRAZ, KATIA MARIA PASCHOALETTO. Human-modified landscape acts as refuge for mammals in Atlantic Forest. Biota Neotropica, v. 18, n. 2 2018. Web of Science Citations: 5.