Birds and forest fragmentation in Brazil II

Effects of tropical forest fragmentation on vertebrates

The project is part of the cooperative research network “BIOCAPSP II - Biodiversity conservation in fragmented landscapes at the Atlantic Plateau of São Paulo, Brazil“ within the Mata Atlantica-Programme of BMBF.

In the BIOCAPSP II programme the University of Freiburg reviews existing literature on the effects of tropical forest fragmentation. The research comprises not only birds, but also other vertebrate groups and covers several Neotropical and Tropical regions. Besides, published papers from BIOCAPSP I programme will be incorporated. Two review papers are under way:

1) Predictors of forest fragmentation sensitivity in Neotropical vertebrates (submitted)

2) A metaanalysis of forest edge effects on avian nest predation

The first review will contribute to a better understanding of factors that determine fragmentation sensitivity in species. A lot of research has been done on tropical forest fragmentation effects on species. However, results on species' responses are not always clear and sometimes contradictory. In this review species' responses to forest fragmentation are linked to possible ecological predictors of their fragmentation sensitivity, e.g. vertebrate group, feeding guild, body size, or forest dependency. The results show the fragmentation sensitivity of different groups of species and might be valuable for conservation practice.

The second review is a metaanalysis that will quantify edge effects on nest predation in the tropics. Most research on nest predation has been done in temperate zones. Based on a former metaanalysis (Bátary and Báldi 2004) we here especially consider tropical studies; in a second step we will compare our results with the results of Bátáry and Báldi (2004) for temperate regions.

Further, the bird studies conducted by the University Freiburg (UF) in cooperation with the University of Sao Paulo (USP) within the BIOCAPSP I programme will be continued and extended into new landscapes and study species by the USP. The UF has an advisory role in the bird field studies of the USP, provide expertise in radio telemetry, contribute bird capturing and telemetry equipment, and co-supervise bird graduate students.