Suchergebnisse

This paper describes the avifauna sampled at the São Luiz farm, in Northern Mato Grosso State, a Southern Brazilian Amazonian forest site. The avifauna was sampled at forested and open sites, between 29 June and 27 July 2008, using point counts, mist-nets and general observations. We recorded 194 bird species within 18 orders and 46 families. The records of this study expanded the known range limits of at least 16 bird species. Despite the need for sampling in other seasons, the rarefaction curves indicate a representative sampling effort. The bird community observed at this site contains most of the species typically associated with Amazonian forests, south of the Amazon, and suggests that 'transitional forests' found at this site should be qualified as 'Amazonian' when considering their legal status. Our data highlights the importance of this anthropogenically-impacted and poorly-known region of Amazonia.

This paper describes the avifauna sampled at Reserva Extrativista Chico Mendes, Acre, Brazil, during October and November, 2008. We recorded 344 bird species of 17 orders and 57 families through point counts, mist-nets and general observations. The most prevalent families were Tyrannidae, Thamnophilidae and Thraupidae with 53, 36 and 22 species, respectively. We recorded some range restricted, little know, and habitat specialists birds exemplified by Crypturellus atrocapillus, C. strigulosus, Primolius couloni, Aulacorhynchus prasinus, Drymophila devillei, Simoxenops ucayalae, Cnipodectes superrufus, Hemitriccus flammulatus, Percnostola lophotes, Xiphorhynchus chunchotambo, and Conioptilon mcilhennyi. Although we surveyed only during the dry season, the rarefaction curves indicate a satisfactory sampling effort. The data show that the Chico Mendes reserve holds a unique Amazonian bird community, which is influenced by the presence of bamboo and second growth vegetation. The results of this paper reinforce the biological importance of the RESEX and highlight the need for more inventories and bird studies at this isolated and little known region of the Brazilian Amazon.

Since 1996 the planning of the Brazilian Government's investment has been organized into four-year plans: Brazil in Action (1996-1999), Advance Brazil (2000- 2003), PPA [Multi-Annual Plan] (2004-2007), PAC [Program for the Acceleration of Growth] (2008-2011), and PAC-2 (2012-2015). Each plan has included a long list of roads, dams and other large infrastructure projects in the Amazon. Several of these projects have been included in a number of plans because economic constraints have prevented the completion of the projects at the pace initially imagined. This is the case with projects such as the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Dam and the BR-163 (Cuiabá-Santarém) and BR- 319 (Manaus-Porto Velho) Highways. These delayed projects are now either under construction or about to start. Models have been developed by different groups to predict the future consequences if projects such as these are undertaken. Different models capture different aspects of the problem, and many of them indicate large increases in deforestation and degradation with serious environmental and social implications. One of the models takes as a point of departure the assumption that roads would have negligible or even beneficial effects on total deforestation, but this contradicts what is observed in the real world.