Análisis citogenético y morfométrico de poblaciones de roedores subterráneos del género Ctenomys (Rodentia: Octodontidae) de las provincias de Buenos aires y de Salta
2004; SAREM; Volume: 11; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1666-0536
Autores Tópico(s)Wildlife Ecology and Conservation
Resumoaddition, basic natural history information is lack-ing for many, if not most, Neotropical species, es-pecially in the Amazon Basin. Such basic informa-tion is essential for natural resource managementand conservation to be successful.To obtain such information at one site, the smallmammal community at the Estacion BiologicaAllpahuayo in northeastern Peru was monitored for18 months. Data were collected to describe andquantify small mammal communities in pristinehabitats and document the impacts of disturbanceon these communities. These data represent one ofthe most comprehensive data sets on mammals evercollected from one site in Amazonia.A total of 37 species of marsupials (13) and ro-dents (24) were documented at the site, which rep-resents one of the most species-rich communitiesreported from the Neotropics. Estimates of localspecies richness indicate that the small mammalcommunity was sampled approximately 90% com-pletely, but that only 64% of species that occur inthe region were documented. Communities in for-ested habitat were more rich and diverse than thosepresent in secondary growth, and communities inolder secondary growth were more diverse than thosein more recently disturbed habitats. Communitycomposition also changed significantly among dif-ferently aged habitats, with unique species presentin both disturbed and undisturbed habitats. Thosepresent in disturbed areas tended to be habitat gen-eralists whereas those in forest were habitat special-ists. One encouraging result was that the mammalcommunity in 15-year-old disturbed habitat wasequally diverse and similar in community composi-tion to that present in mature forest. This suggeststhat small mammal communities can recover fromdisturbance events in a relatively short period oftime, if the area remains fallow during the recoveryperiod and is adjacent to mature forest. The latter ofthese is important for facilitating dispersal of forestspecies into these areas. The structure of the domi-nance hierarchy of communities did not change indifferent habitat types. However, different specieswere dominant in different habitats, with Philanderopossum and Proechimys brevicauda dominant indisturbed areas and Proechimys cuvieri andOryzomys perenensis dominant in mature forest.To maintain the high number of species presentat EBA, large tracts of rain forest must be pre-served intact. The biggest source of habitat distur-bance and fragmentation in the Iquitos area is an-thropogenic in origin, particularly subsistence farm-ing. Whereas a low level of this type of disturbanceincreases mammalian diversity by providing a mo-saic of disturbed and undisturbed habitats acrossthe landscape, too much disturbance will upset thatbalance and diversity will begin to decline as for-ested habitats become isolated. Educating the localpeople about the importance of conserving the rainforest needs to be a priority if it is to be preservedin the Iquitos region. Methods that lessen theirimpact on rain forest resources, but are profitable,need to be developed and implemented. However,it is difficult to preserve what is not understood.Studies such as this increase our understanding ofthe ecology of one aspect of the rain forest biome.This, coupled with other studies in other areas ofbiology, lays the foundation for understanding andthus, preserving this magnificent biome.
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