Surveying in highly-modified landscapes to document the occurrence of threatened species: a study of the giant armadillo Priodontes maximus in central Brazil

Studies on threatened species in highly modified and unprotected landscapes are necessary for the development of appropriate conservation policies. This is particularly important for species with large home ranges, such as the giant armadillo Priodontes maximus, whose occurrence in anthropogenic landscapes is poorly known despite its categorization as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. We searched and surveyed for the giant armadillo within human-modified areas in central Brazil using direct and indirect methods across a wide region dominated by diverse farming environments and scattered remnants of natural vegetation. During a 14-year period (2003–2016), we located 54 records of the species, including three road-kills and two instances of poaching. Most of the occurrence points (83%) were in native vegetation, with 17% in anthropogenic environments (pastures and roads). We confirmed the presence of the giant armadillo within a wide, intensely human-altered region. These findings indicate that Cerrado and Atlantic Forest remnants in modified landscapes in central Brazil play an important role as refuges for this armadillo species. In addition to habitat loss, road-kills and poaching persist as threats to the giant armadillo. Conservation actions are necessary to minimize human impacts and facilitate the persistence of the giant armadillo in this region. Policies that both deter illegal deforestation and strengthen incentives for the protection of natural vegetation remnants and restoration of biological corridors such as gallery forests would aid conservation of the giant armadillo in this area.

Deforestation and Carbon Loss in Southwest Amazonia: Impact of Brazil's Revised Forest Code

In 2012 Brazil's National Congress altered the country's Forest Code, decreasing various environmental protections in the set of regulations governing forests. This suggests consequences in increased deforestation and emissions of greenhouse gases and in decreased protection of fragile ecosystems. To ascertain the effects, a simulation was run to the year 2025 for the municipality (county) of Boca do Acre, Amazonas state, Brazil. A baseline scenario considered historical behavior (which did not respect the Forest Code), while two scenarios considered full compliance with the old Forest Code (Law 4771/1965) and the current Code (Law 12,651/2012) regarding the protection of "areas of permanent preservation" (APPs) along the edges of watercourses. The models were parameterized from satellite imagery and simulated using Dinamica-EGO software. Deforestation actors and processes in the municipality were observed in loco in 2012. Carbon emissions and loss of forest by 2025 were computed in the three simulation scenarios. There was a 10% difference in the loss of carbon stock and of forest between the scenarios with the two versions of the Forest Code. The baseline scenario showed the highest loss of carbon stocks and the highest increase in annual emissions. The greatest damage was caused by not protecting wetlands and riparian zones.

Influence of relief on permanent preservation areas

Many countries have environmental legislation to protecting natural resources on private property. In Brazil, the Brazilian Forestry Code determines specific areas to maintain with natural vegetation cover, known as areas of permanent preservation (APP). Currently, there are few studies that relate topographic variables on APP. In this context, we sought to evaluate the influence of relief on the conservation of areas of permanent preservation (APP) in the areas surrounding Caparaó National Park, Brazil. By using the chi-squared statistical test, we verified that the presence of forest cover is closely associated with altitude. The classes of APP in better conservation status are slopes in addition to hilltops and mountains, whereas APP streams and springs are among the areas most affected by human activities. The most deforested areas are located at altitudes below 1100.00 m and on slopes less than 45°. All orientations of the sides were significant for APP conservation status, with the southern, southeastern, and southwestern sides showing the lower degrees of impact. The methodology can be adjusted to environmental legislation to other countries.

Using Species Distribution Models to Predict Potential Landscape Restoration Effects on Puma Conservation

A mosaic of intact native and human-modified vegetation use can provide important habitat for top predators such as the puma (Puma concolor), avoiding negative effects on other species and ecological processes due to cascade trophic interactions. This study investigates the effects of restoration scenarios on the puma's habitat suitability in the most developed Brazilian region (São Paulo State). Species Distribution Models incorporating restoration scenarios were developed using the species' occurrence information to (1) map habitat suitability of pumas in São Paulo State, Southeast, Brazil; (2) test the relative contribution of environmental variables ecologically relevant to the species habitat suitability and (3) project the predicted habitat suitability to future native vegetation restoration scenarios. The Maximum Entropy algorithm was used (Test AUC of 0.84 ± 0.0228) based on seven environmental non-correlated variables and non-autocorrelated presence-only records (n = 342). The percentage of native vegetation (positive influence), elevation (positive influence) and density of roads (negative influence) were considered the most important environmental variables to the model. Model projections to restoration scenarios reflected the high positive relationship between pumas and native vegetation. These projections identified new high suitability areas for pumas (probability of presence >0.5) in highly deforested regions. High suitability areas were increased from 5.3% to 8.5% of the total State extension when the landscapes were restored for ≥ the minimum native vegetation cover rule (20%) established by the Brazilian Forest Code in private lands. This study highlights the importance of a landscape planning approach to improve the conservation outlook for pumas and other species, including not only the establishment and management of protected areas, but also the habitat restoration on private lands. Importantly, the results may inform environmental policies and land use planning in São Paulo State, Brazil.

First record of Tigrisoma fasciatum (Such, 1825) (Aves: Ardeidae) in the State of Amapá, Brazil and updated species distribution in Central and South America

The Fasciated Tiger-heron (Tigrisoma fasciatum) is considered endangered in Brazil and Argentina. Although this species has a large range in Central and South America, its records are scattered and scarce. We used a combination of searches in the scientific literature and new field records to provide an updated distributional range of this species. Searches for records and photos of T. fasciatum were conducted using online databases. We also conducted field surveys along the margins of the Araguari and Falsino rivers, in the National Forest of Amapá, a sustainable protected area in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. Our literature review provided a total of 25 new distributional records of T. fasciatum. During our river based surveys we recorded one individual of T. fasciatum, which represents an extension of 499 km from the nearest previously documented occurrence. We present these findings in an up to date distributional map of T. fasciatum and highlight the need of further studies in order to better understand the species distribution and ecology.

The width of riparian habitats for understory birds in an Amazonian forest

Riparian habitats are important for the maintenance of regional biodiversity. Many studies have compared bird distributions between riparian and non-riparian habitats but have not established how wide riparian habitats used by birds are, as measured by distance from the nearest stream. We investigated the distribution of understory birds along gradients of distance from streams, soil clay content, and slope in a central Amazonian forest, by mist-netting birds three times in 45 plots. We used nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) to reduce the dimensionality of species quantitative (abundance) and qualitative (presence-absence) composition to one multivariate axis. Estimates of the width of riparian habitats as indicated by understory birds depended on the community attribute considered, measuring 90 m for species quantitative composition and 140 m for species qualitative composition. Species distributions were correlated with clay content but were independent of slope, while distance from streams was positively correlated with clay content but independent of slope. Clay content affects plant species composition, which in turn, may influence bird species composition. However, distribution patterns of birds in relation to distance from streams are consistent among studies carried out in many different temperate and tropical regions, indicating an effect of distance from streams itself. Protection of riparian habitats is one of the most widely used conservation strategies, and Brazilian environmental legislation mandates the protection of a 30 m wide strip of riparian vegetation on either side of small streams. We show that the protected strip should be much wider and recommend strategies to place other forms of land protection contiguous with riparian areas so that Brazilian environmental legislation better fulfills its role of protecting biodiversity associated with riparian habitats.

A revisão do Código Florestal Brasileiro: impactos negativos para a conservação dos anfíbios

Nos últimos meses está em efervescente discussão uma proposta para que um novo código florestal (Projeto de Lei nº 1876/99) substitua o vigente instaurado por meio da Lei Federal nº 4771/65 e modificado recentemente por Medidas Provisórias. Este novo código proposto, todavia, propõe alterações legais que devem afetar negativamente as populações naturais de anfíbios do Brasil. O declínio de anfíbios deve gerar impactos negativos tanto para a população (humana) nacional, como para a comunidade internacional. Entre os possíveis efeitos dessa lei, em consequência da perda de diversidade de anfíbios, podemos citar o aumento nos custos de produção agrícola, perda de matéria prima para produção de remédios, descontrole ecológico, eutrofização de corpos d'água, encarecimento do custo do tratamento de água para abastecimento humano, aumento de pragas agrícolas e aumento de doenças transmitidas por insetos vetores. Isto tudo é bastante preocupante ainda mais se levarmos em conta a própria perda da biodiversidade de anfíbios, o grupo de vertebrados terrestres mais ameaçado do planeta. Sendo assim, ressaltamos a necessidade de que, caso um novo código florestal seja elaborado, este tenha embasamento também em questões técnicas e científicas que impreterivelmente afetam, não só a conservação da natureza, mas também a economia, saúde e bem estar das populações humanas.

Implicações do cumprimento do Código Florestal vigente na redução de áreas agrícolas: um estudo de caso da produção canavieira no Estado de São Paulo

Uma das principais justificativas da proposta de mudanças do Código Florestal brasileiro (CF) é a de que seu cumprimento supostamente inviabilizaria vários setores da agropecuária, apesar dessa justificativa ser fracamente sustentada em dados. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar as implicações do cumprimento do CF para a redução de áreas de produção canavieira no Estado de São Paulo, visando estimar qual seria o limite superior de potenciais prejuízos que a aplicação do CF poderia trazer à viabilidade econômica de um dos mais importantes, e também impactantes ambientalmente, segmentos da produção agropecuária brasileira. Foram analisados 23 projetos de adequação ambiental conduzidos em 1.961 propriedades rurais de usinas sucroalcooleira do Estado de São Paulo, os quais totalizaram 533.097 ha (9,7% da área cultivada com cana-de-açúcar em São Paulo). Nesses projetos, realizaram-se um diagnóstico ambiental de Áreas de Preservação Permanente (APP), áreas de produção agrícola e de áreas potenciais para constituir a Reserva Legal. Os resultados indicaram que 10,4% da área total das propriedades rurais constituiriam APPs e que apenas 21,2% da área de APP (2,2% da área total) era utilizada por algum tipo de atividade agrícola, sendo que cana-de-açúcar ocupava apenas 12,1% da área enquadrada como APP pelo atual Código (1,2% da área total). Em média, 76,5% da área total dos projetos estavam ocupadas por cana-de-açúcar e a soma das áreas potencias para a averbação da Reserva Legal, constituídas de remanescentes florestais (5,0% da área total), áreas abandonadas (2,3% da área total) e de áreas com outros usos (6,3% da área total), resultaria em 13,6% da área total, gerando um déficit médio de 6,4% de áreas para o total cumprimento da Reserva Legal (20%). Esse déficit poderia, por lei, inclusive ser compensado fora da matrícula, em paisagens de menor aptidão agrícola. Assim, o diagnóstico apresentado nesse trabalho para o setor canavieiro no Estado de São Paulo aponta que o CF vigente poderia ser cumprido sem inviabilizar a produção agrícola, ressaltando que parte dos argumentos favoráveis às alterações no CF precisa ser revista à luz de dados concretos e de forma menos especulativa.