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SEPG 2104 - Date Awarded 2003
Impact of the fragmentation of the highly-threatened Atlantic forest of north-eastern Brazil on the diversity of fruit-tree species of the Pernambuco endemism center: sub-area Usina Serra Grande
Antonio Rossano Mendes Pontes & Graciliano Galdino Alves dos Santosl
Abstract
A study was carried out in one of last remnants of the highly-threatened North-eastern Atlantic forest of Brazil, the so-called Pernambuco Endemism Centre (CEPE), of which only 2% remains, in order to identify the fruit tree species occurring there, to build the first data basis and fruit collection of the region, and a website to make the information available. We also aimed to study the phenology of the selected forest fragments, especially fruit productivity in the canopy and on the forest floor in order to correlate it with their carrying capacity. Two forest fragments belonging to the commonest class size in the region were selected (Cachoeira, with 200 ha, and Capoeirao, with approximately 90 ha). Monthly observations of marked trees with at least 10cm DBH were performed for one year for the presence of leaves, flowers, and fruit. Fruit abundance was also estimated in the canopy and on the forest floor through the raked-ground fruit survey. As a result of this pioneer study, 105 fruit tree species were registered, plus 50 morpho-species in the process to be determined. Cachoeira presented 80 species (plus 30 non-identified ones), whereas Capoeirao presented 73 species (plus 28 non-identified ones), and in both forest fragments the richest family was Leguminosae. The trees reproductive pattern found differed from other studies, possibly due to the high human impact upon the area. The fruit productivity differed significantly between forest fragments, with capoeirao, which was once destroyed, producing much less fruit than Cachoeira, which in tum, produced much more than expected from literature regarding the Neotropical forests. The majority of the trees of both studied fragments also presented a zoocoric syndrome (i.e. have their seeds dispersed by mammals that carry their seeds away from the tree). These latter results suggest that despite the high rate of deforastation that the area has been subjected in the last 500 years, it still presents an adequate carrying capacity to support the local fauna.
Papers Published
Full paper: Sleeping sites of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) in defaunated urban forest fragments: a strategy to maximize food intake
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