INVESTIGADORES
PARDIÑAS ulises francisco J.
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Diversity of small mammals in the karst region of central Minas Gerais, Brazil
Autor/es:
BORONI, N.; PARDIÑAS, U.F.J.; LESSA, G.
Lugar:
La Plata
Reunión:
Jornada; 24 Jornadas Argentinas de Mastozoología; 2011
Institución organizadora:
SAREM - Universidad Nac. La Plata
Resumen:
The small mammals diversity and ecology in the karst region of central Minas Gerais has been known since the XIX century, when the naturalist Peter Lund has conducted studies based on trappings and owl pellets. The latter provided important data about the fauna of the area, since the diet of the owl is a response to the availability, diversity and abundance of prey in hunting grounds. Since the first species list developed by Lund for Lagoa Santa area, several species were extinct or threatened due to Cerrado destruction. This work aims to evaluate the current rodent fauna of these cave environments through owls pellets collected in Gruta do Salitre, near the Maquiné cave, in Cordisburgo. We analyzed the variation in fauna diversity and its environmental implications in the region through the comparison between recent samples collected and those found by Lund. Preliminary studies allowed the identification of 911 individuals from pellets of Tyto alba: Calomys sp. (Minimum number of individuals = 606, including 2 morphotypes, probably C. expulsus and C. tener), Necromys lasiurus (NMI = 257), Oligoryzomys sp. (MNI = 26), Thalpomys sp. (MNI = 7), Rhipidomys sp. (MNI = 1), Cerradomys sp. (MNI = 10), Euryzygomatomys sp. (MNI = 2), Pseudoryzomys simplex (MNI = 1), and Rattus sp. (MNI = 1). We observed changes in the local fauna in relation to that found by Lund in the XIX century, when he described the presence of 15 species of rodents, while N. lasiurus was the dominant specie, with 80% of fauna representation. However in the current sample there was a predominance of Calomys (66%) and a decrease in species richness. Necromys is a typical forest rodent and Calomys is opportunistic and open field, and its prevalence in the sample can be related to human influence followed by environmental degradation in the study area.
