Veredas and their use by birds in the Cerrado, South America: a review

Dams Change Beta Diversity of Aquatic Communities in the Veredas of the Brazilian Cerrado

The veredas are wetland ecosystems responsible for supplying most of the water for rivers and streams in the Cerrado. The veredas’ hydromorfic soils retain a large amount of rainwater, releasing it slowly during drier periods. Therefore, these habitats are often used to build dams for cattle raising. Here we assessed the environmental conditions and beta-diversity of Odonata and Heteroptera on veredas impacted by dams in the Brazilian Cerrado. We sampled biological communities and a set of environmental variables in 13 veredas, six with dams and seven without dams. One limnological variable [oxidation–reduction potential (ORP)] and one landscape metric (% of the altered area) differed among veredas with and without dams. These variables were important predictors of the beta-diversity of both Odonata (R2= 0.650;p< 0.001) and Heteroptera (R2= 0.740;p< 0.001). The veredas stand among the most sensitive wetland ecosystems of the Cerrado. In this study, we show, for the first time, that veredas with dams may lose environmental quality resulting in changes in biological communities, especially ecologically unique species. Because the Cerrado naturally goes through approximately 5 months of severe drought, the veredas are critical for the Cerrado’s hydric safety. Therefore, we recommend that cattle-raising activities should rely on artificial water tanks instead of using dams for water storage since it affects ecologically unique species in this poorly known ecosystem.

Adapting a rapid assessment protocol to environmentally assess palm swamp (Veredas) springs in the Cerrado biome, Brazil

The exploitation and degradation of natural environments exert intense pressure on important ecosystems worldwide. Thus, it is necessary developing or adapting assessment methods to monitor environmental changes and to generate results to be applied to environmental management programs. The Brazilian Veredas (phytophysiognomies typical to the Cerrado biome) are threatened by several human activities; thus, the aim of the present study is to adapt a rapid assessment protocol (RAP) to be applied to Veredas springs, by using the upper course of the Vai-e-Vem stream watershed (Ipameri County, Goiás State, Brazil). Therefore, several springs in the study site were visited and 11 of them were considered Veredas springs. After the RAP was adapted, the instrument was validated and used to environmentally assess the springs in order to demonstrate its applicability. The present study has provided an instrument of option to monitor Veredas springs.

Diversidade de anfíbios do Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

RESUMO A fauna de anfíbios do estado de Mato Grosso do Sul foi compilada e elaborada pela primeira vez, totalizando 97 espécies, o que representa pouco mais de 10% das espécies que ocorrem no Brasil. Nove famílias e 25 gêneros de Anura e apenas uma espécie de Gymnophiona foram registradas. As áreas de Cerrado apresentaram a maior riqueza, seguidas pelas florestas estacionais semideciduais, Chaco e veredas. Em relação às macrorregiões consideradas, foram registradas 56 espécies para a planície de inundação (majoritariamente representada pelo Pantanal) e 92 para o planalto. As regiões mais amostradas em Mato Grosso do Sul são o Parque Nacional da Serra da Bodoquena e algumas áreas do Pantanal, o que resulta em lacunas de amostragens por todo o estado, principalmente nas regiões norte, leste/sudeste e parte do oeste/sudoeste. Foram identificadas áreas consideradas importantes para amostragens em decorrência da complexidade de fitofisionomias e relevos encontrados no estado: Maciço do rio Apa, Serra de Maracaju, grande parte do Chaco brasileiro, leque do rio Taquari, planalto do Taquari-Itiquira, escarpas do planalto Central, áreas úmidas/florestas estacionais da planície do rio Paraná e áreas interioranas do Pantanal, onde o acesso é difícil.

Avian frugivory in Miconia (Melastomataceae): contrasting fruiting times promote habitat complementarity between savanna and palm swamp

Species of Miconia are considered keystone plant resources for frugivorous birds in Neotropical forests, but for other ecosystems little of their ecological role is known. The fruiting phenology and the composition of frugivores of four Miconia species in savanna and palm swamp from the Brazilian Neotropical savanna were studied in three sites from November 2005 to May 2011. The hypothesis tested was that plants from different habitats share their frugivores and consequently promote links between habitats. Through focal plant observations (30–50 h per species in each site), 668 visits by 47 species of birds were recorded and plants from different habitats shared most of the frugivores (49–97%). The fruiting of Miconia chamissois in the palm swamp during the period of fruit scarcity (dry season) was accompanied by an enhancement in the frugivore bird richness and abundance in this habitat, providing indirect evidence of resource tracking. Bird species which primarily dwell in savanna recorded consuming fruits in palm swamps during the resource-scarce season is taken as evidence of landscape supplementation. Miconia assemblage studied here seems to promote a link between two adjacent habitats in the Neotropical savanna from Central Brazil, a link which is likely to be common in this naturally patchy ecosystem.