Feeding ecology of four species of opossums in a fragmented landscape in southeastern Brazil.
MACEDO, L.; PAMPLONA, P. H.; CARVALHO, F. M. V.; FERNANDEZ, F. A. S.; NESSIMIAN, J. L.
1 Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ,
21941-590, Brasil. 2 Departamento de Biologia Geral, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de
Goiás, Goiânia, GO, 74001-970, Brasil. [email protected]
Diet of the opossums Caluromys philander, Philander frenata, Micoureus demerarae and Didelphis aurita has been
studied at eight small (<15ha) Atlantic Forest fragments since 1995. All species were mostly insectivore, even
Caluromys, usually regarded as frugivore. Philander and Didelphis used vertebrate prey; all species showed frugivory
to varying degrees. The plasticity of their diets seems important to allow the persistence of these opossums in such
small and disturbed forest remnants.
Evidence of Amazonian rainforest fragmentation based on the phylogeography of the Neotropical rattlesnake
(Serpentes: Viperidae: Crotalus durissus)
QUIJADA-MASCAREÑAS, A.1; WÜSTER, W. 1; FERGUSON, J. E. 1; POOK, C. E. 1; SALOMÃO, M. G. 2; THORPE,
R. S. 1
1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor LL57 2UW, Wales, UK; 2 Laboratório de Herpetologia,
Inst. Butantan, Av. Vital Brazil 1500, 05503900 São Paulo SP, Brazil. [email protected]
We studied the phylogeography of the Neotropical rattlesnake using two mtDNA genes and parsimony, maximum
likelihood, Bayesian and nested clade analyses. Our results show a stepwise colonization from Mexico to South
America across the Amazon Basin. The low sequence divergence between populations from north and south
suggests that the Amazon become fragmented 1.1 Mya, supporting the Pleistocene refugia theory as an important
cause of distribution patterns in Amazonian forest organisms.
AG Award
Structure of seven “Caatinga” forest fragments in the municipalities of Montalvânia and Juvenília, North of
Minas Gerais State, Brazil.
SANTOS, R. M.; CARVALHO, D. A.; BERG, E. V. D.
77 plots of 400m2 were proportionally distributed by the size of the fragments, corresponding to a 3.08ha sample
area. 27 families and 87 species were found. Caesalpinia microphylla, Combretum leprosum and Myracrodruon
urundeuva occurred in all fragments. Diversity and equability varied H’=2.02 to 3.42 and J=0.67 to 0.91, values
considered high if compared to other surveys developed in “Caatinga” vegetation.
Do leaf-cutting ant nests affect seed germination and seedling establishment in forest fragments?
SILVA, P. S. D.1; CORRÊA, M. M. 1; TABARELLI, M. 1; WIRTH, R. 2; LEAL, I. R. 1
1-Departamento de Botânica, Centro de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE,
Brazil; 2-Department of Plant Ecology & Systematics, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany;
[email protected]
In a remnant of the Atlantic forest (Alagoas, NE-Brazil), we planted seeds of Chrysophyllum sp. in four plots with
increasing distances (up to 20 m) from Atta cephalotes nests. Both germination success and seedling mortality were
significantly affected by distance from the nest, suggesting that A. cephalotes creates unsuitable habitats for shade
tolerant species such as Chrysophyllum sp.
Increased growth rates of Atta cephalotes colonies in response to forest fragmentation
SILVEIRA, U. A. 1; URBAS, P. 1; WIRTH, R. 2; LEAL, I. R. 1
¹Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE, Brazil; ²Department of Plant Ecology
and Systematic, University of Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany; [email protected]
We measured nest mound size and number of nest entrances of 50 mature Atta cephalotes colonies in the interior
and the edge of continuous forest and a small forest fragment. Data were collected in Serra Grande (AL, NE-Brazil)
at 6-month intervals during two years.The size of the nest mounds significantly differed among the three habitats,
with the smallest nests in the forest interior, according to our predictions.
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