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Articles • Braz. J. Biol. 76 (04) • Oct-Dec 2016 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1519-6984.06815   copy

Distribution and conservation of three important bird groups of the Atlantic Forest in north-east Brazil

Distribuição e conservação de três importantes grupos de aves na Floresta Atlântica do Nordeste do Brazil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

The Pernambuco Endemism Center in north-east Brazil has the most fragmented forest cover and the largest number of threatened birds of the whole Atlantic Forest. We analyzed the distribution of three groups of bird species: forest-dependent, endemic and/or threatened using the interpolation method of Inverse Distance Weighting. We also checked the concentration of these birds in protected and unprotected areas, suggesting new sites that need to be protected. The richness concentration of forest-dependent, endemic and/or threatened birds in 123 sites were analysed. There was a greater concentration of the three groups in north Alagoas, south and north Pernambuco, and north and west Paraíba. The distribution of the three groups was almost regular in different vegetation types, although a lower concentration was found in the pioneer formation. There was a greater concentration of birds from all three groups between Pernambuco and Alagoas, and this must be due to the presence of more forest fragments with better structure and vegetation heterogeneity. The protected and unprotected areas hosted important records of endemic and/or threatened birds. We suggested some important places for implementation of new protected areas due to the larger concentrations of the target birds and because they are located within the boundaries of the Important Bird Areas.

Keywords:
neotropical birds; threatened birds; endemism; Atlantic Forest; conservation

Resumo

O Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco, situado no Nordeste do Brasil, é o setor mais fragmentado e com o maior número de aves ameaçadas de extinção de toda a Mata Atlântica. Foram analisadas as distribuições das aves florestais, endêmicas e/ou ameaçadas de extinção através do método da interpolação ‘Inverse Distance Weighting’. Também foi verificada a concentração dessas aves em áreas protegidas e não protegidas, sugerindo novas áreas que necessitam ser protegidas. Foi verificada a concentração da riqueza das espécies de aves florestais, endêmicas e ameaçadas em 123 locais. Houve uma maior concentração dos três grupos no norte de Alagoas, sul e norte de Pernambuco, e norte e oeste da Paraíba. A distribuição dos três grupos foi regular nos distintos tipos vegetacionais, apesar de uma menor concentração nas áreas de formação pioneira. Houve maior concentração das aves dos três grupos entre Pernambuco e Alagoas, devido, provavelmente a presença de uma maior quantidade de fragmentos florestais com melhor estrutura e heterogeneidade vegetal. Tanto as áreas protegidas como as não protegidas possuem importantes registros de aves endêmicas e ameaçadas. Sugerimos alguns locais importantes para a implementação de novas áreas protegidas, tendo como base as áreas com maiores concentrações dos três grupos de aves e dentro dos limites das Important Bird Areas.

Palavras-chave:
aves neotropicais; aves ameaçadas; endemismos; Mata Atlântica; conservação

1 Introduction

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest in the states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte, known as Pernambuco Endemism Center (henceforth PEC) (Silva et al., 2004Silva, J.M.C., Sousa, M.C. and Castelleti, C.H.M., 2004. Areas of endemism for passerine birds in the Atlantic Forest. Global Ecology and Biogeography, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 85-92. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-882X.2004.00077.x.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-882X.20... ) retains just only 11.45% of its original vegetation cover (SOSMA, 2015FUNDAÇÃO SOS MATA ATLÂNTICA – SOSMA, 2015 [viewed 2015 August 04]. Atlas dos remanescentes florestais da Mata Atlântica - período 2013-2014 [online]. São Paulo: Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica. Available from: https://www.sosma.org.br/link/atlas_2013-2014_Mata_Atlantica_relatorio_tecnico_2015.pdf
https://www.sosma.org.br/link/atlas_2013... ), and is currently one of the most degraded areas of the whole dominium, considered a hotspot within another hotspot (Tabarelli et al., 2006Tabarelli, M., Siqueira-Filho, J.A. and Santos, A.M.M., 2006. Conservação da Floresta Atlântica ao Norte do Rio São Francisco. In: K.C. PÔRTO, J.S. ALMEIDA-CORTEZ and M. TABARELLI. Biodiversidade Biológica e Conservação da Floresta Atlântica ao Norte do Rio São Francisco. Brasília: Ministério do Meio Ambiente, pp. 41-48.), the entire Atlantic Forest (Myers et al., 2000Myers, N., Mittermeier, R.A., Mittemeier, C.G. and Fonseca, G.A.B., 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature, vol. 403, no. 6772, pp. 853-858. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35002501. PMid:10706275.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35002501... ).

Despite the high level of fragmentation, 434 bird species persist in the region (Roda et al., 2011Roda, S.A., Pereira, G.A. and Albano, C., 2011. Conservação de Aves endêmicas e ameaçadas do Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco. Recife: Editora Universitária da UFPE. 79 p.), which has the highest number of threatened birds in Brazil, according to the last updated list of threatened birds (Brasil, 2014BRASIL. Ministério do Meio Ambiente – MMA, 2014. Portarias nº 444 e nº 445, de 18 de dezembro de 2014. Diário Oficial da Repúbica Federativa do Brasil, Brasília, Seção 1, pp. 121-130.; IUCN, 2015INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE – IUCN, 2015 [viewed 2015 August 04]. The IUCN red list of threatened species: version 2015.1 [online]. Cambridge: IUCN. Available from: http://www.iucnredlist.org
http://www.iucnredlist.org... ). Then, some research related to the conservation of threatened birds was carried out in the region, e.g. Pauxi mitu, Glaucidium mooreorum, Terenura sicki, Philydor novaesi, Tangara fastuosa, etc (Silveira et al., 2003bSilveira, L.F., Olmos, F., Roda, S.A. and Long, A., 2003b. Notes on the seven-coloured Tanager Tangara fastuosa in north-east Brazil. Cotinga, n. 20, pp. 82-88., 2008Silveira, L.F., Roda, S.A., Santos, A.M.M., Soares, E.S. and Bianchi, C.A., 2008. Plano de ação para a conservação do mutum-de-alagoas (Mitu mitu = Pauxi mitu). Brasília: ICMBio. 48 p.; Roda et al., 2011Roda, S.A., Pereira, G.A. and Albano, C., 2011. Conservação de Aves endêmicas e ameaçadas do Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco. Recife: Editora Universitária da UFPE. 79 p.).

This current alarming situation of the PEC has occurred due to the removal of the native vegetation (Olmos, 2005Olmos, F., 2005. Aves ameaçadas, prioridades e políticas de conservação no Brasil. Natureza & Conservação, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 21-42.; Silveira et al., 2003aSilveira, L.F., Olmos, F. and Long, A., 2003a. Birds in Atlantic Forest Fragments in north-east Brazil. Cotinga, n. 20, pp. 32-46.). Currently there are only 157 protected areas in the region (Paula, 2012Paula, L.A., 2012. Cadastro das unidades de conservação. In: B.P.C. BRANCO and M.D.V.C. MELO. Saberes e fazeres da Mata Atlântica do Nordeste: tecendo uma rede de gestores. Recife: AMANE, pp. 69-92.), and probably many of these are not functional for conservation of endemic and/or threatened birds, as noted by Giorgi et al. (2014)Giorgi, A.P., Rovzar, C., Davis, K.S., Fuller, T., Buermann, W., Saatchi, S., Smith, T.B., Silveira, L.F. and Gillespie, T.W., 2014. Spatial conservation planning framework for assessing conservation opportunities in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Applied Geography (Sevenoaks, England), vol. 53, pp. 69-376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.06.013.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.... in southeastern Atlantic Forest. There are also the Important Bird Areas (IBA henceforth) which are places of great importance due to the significant number of endemic and/or threatened bird species, and they ensure the long-term conservation of these birds and areas (Bencke et al., 2006Bencke, G.A., Maurício, G.N., Develey, P.F. and Goerck, J.M., 2006. Áreas Importantes para a conservação das aves no Brasil: parte I – estados do domínio da Mata Atlântica. São Paulo: SAVE Brasil. 494 p.). Throughout the region there are 42 IBAs, many of which overlap protected areas.

The understanding of the biogeographic aspects of birds in fragmented areas is a challenge, given the adverse factors caused by fragmentation (Lees and Peres, 2008Lees, A.C. and Peres, C.A., 2008. Avian life history determinants of local extinction risk in a fragmented Neotropical forest landscape. Animal Conservation, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 128-137. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2008.00162.x.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-1795.20... ), such as the consequent loss of habitat that leads many species to local extinction, mainly those restricted to certain habitats (Moura et al., 2014Moura, N.G., Lees, A.C., Aleixo, A., Barlow, J., Dantas, S.M., Ferreira, J., Lima, M.D.F.C. and Gardner, T.A., 2014. Two hundred years of local avian extinctions in Eastern Amazonia. Conservation Biology, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 1271-1281. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12300. PMid:24779443.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12300... ). Thus to evaluate the application of biogeographic principles related to the dynamics of avian distribution is an extremely useful tool in conservation planning (Whittaker et al., 2005Whittaker, R.J., Araújo, M.B., Jepson, P., Ladle, R.J., Watson, J.E.M. and Willis, K.J., 2005. Conservation biogeography: assessment and prospect. Diversity & Distributions, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 3-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1366-9516.2005.00143.x.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1366-9516.20... ; Giorgi et al., 2014Giorgi, A.P., Rovzar, C., Davis, K.S., Fuller, T., Buermann, W., Saatchi, S., Smith, T.B., Silveira, L.F. and Gillespie, T.W., 2014. Spatial conservation planning framework for assessing conservation opportunities in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Applied Geography (Sevenoaks, England), vol. 53, pp. 69-376. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.06.013.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeog.2014.... ).

The distribution of a living being in a region can be checked through the methods of ecological modeling. The Inverse Distance Weight (IDW henceforth) interpolation modeling technique has been shown to be very effective due to its accuracy in providing a real picture of actual and potential distribution (see Roberts et al., 2004Roberts, E.A., Sheley, R.L. and Lawrence, R.L., 2004. Using sampling and inverse distance weighted modeling for mapping invasive plants. Western North American Naturalist, vol. 64, no. 3, pp. 312-323.; Abdi and Nandipati, 2009Abdi, A. and Nandipati, A., 2009. Bird diversity modeling using Geostatistics anf GIS. In: 12th AGILE International Conference on Geographic Information Science, 2-5 June 2009, Hannover, Germany. Hannover: Universitat Hannover, pp. 1-20.). Besides, this method is very accessible, easy to use, and uses linear combinations of weights at known points to estimate unknown localities values (Roberts et al., 2004Roberts, E.A., Sheley, R.L. and Lawrence, R.L., 2004. Using sampling and inverse distance weighted modeling for mapping invasive plants. Western North American Naturalist, vol. 64, no. 3, pp. 312-323.).

Therefore, the aims of this study were: 1) Analyze the distribution of forest-dependent, endemic and/or threatened birds along the entire length of the PEC using the IDW technique; 2) Verify how is the distribution of three groups of birds in the different vegetation types in the region; 3) Check the protected and unprotected areas that have higher concentrations of endemic and/or threatened birds; 4) suggest new areas within the limits of IBAs that could be turned into new protected areas according to the amount of endemic and/or threatened birds.

2 Material and Methods

2.1 Study area

The study was conducted in 123 sites of the Atlantic Forest of the Brazilian states of Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte, known as PEC. This sector is covered by five vegetation type: open ombrophilous forest, dense ombrophilous forest, ecological tension zone, seasonal semideciduous forest and pioneer formation (IBGE, 2004INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICA – IBGE, 2004. Mapa da vegetação do Brasil: escala 1:5.000.000. 3rd ed. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE.) (Figure 1). The altitude reaches more than 900 m; the average temperature ranges from 24 to 26 °C, and the average annual rainfall is of 1,1180 mm, with the rains being more consistent in the west and in the highlands (IBGE, 1985INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICA – IBGE, 1985. Atlas Nacional do Brasil, Região Nordeste. Rio de Janeiro: IBGE.).

Figure 1
Localities (black dots) where bird surveys, vegetation types and forest fragments of the Pernambuco Endemism Center were conducted. Phytophysiognomies: OOF – Open Ombrophilous Forest; DOF – Dense Ombrophilous Forest; ETZ – Ecological Tension Zone; SSF – Stational Semideciduous Forest; and PF – Pioneer Formation.

2.2 Sampling

The database used in this work was provenient from the literature, authors’ fieldwork and records provided by other researchers. The target species are those dependent on forest environments (Roda, 2003RODA, S.A., 2003. Aves do Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco: composição, biogeografia e conservação. Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, 520 p. Tese de Doutorado em Ciências Biológicas., 2006Roda, S.A., 2006. Aves. In: K.C. PÔRTO, J.S. ALMEIDA-CORTEZ and M. TABARELLI. Diversidade biológica e conservação da Floresta Atlântica ao Norte do Rio São Francisco. Brasília: Ministério do Meio Ambiente, pp. 279-299.), endemics of the PEC (Roda, 2003RODA, S.A., 2003. Aves do Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco: composição, biogeografia e conservação. Belém: Universidade Federal do Pará, 520 p. Tese de Doutorado em Ciências Biológicas.; Silveira et al., 2003aSilveira, L.F., Olmos, F. and Long, A., 2003a. Birds in Atlantic Forest Fragments in north-east Brazil. Cotinga, n. 20, pp. 32-46.) and/or threatened birds mentioned in the Brazilian and global red list (Brasil, 2014BRASIL. Ministério do Meio Ambiente – MMA, 2014. Portarias nº 444 e nº 445, de 18 de dezembro de 2014. Diário Oficial da Repúbica Federativa do Brasil, Brasília, Seção 1, pp. 121-130.; IUCN, 2015INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE – IUCN, 2015 [viewed 2015 August 04]. The IUCN red list of threatened species: version 2015.1 [online]. Cambridge: IUCN. Available from: http://www.iucnredlist.org
http://www.iucnredlist.org... ). The nomenclature of species follows the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee (Piacentini et al., 2015PIACENTINI, V.Q., PIACENTINI, V.Q., ALEIXO, A, AGNE, C.E., MAURICIO, G.N., PACHECO, J.F., BRAVO, G.A., BRITO, G.R.R., NAKA, L.N., OLMOS, F., POSSO, S., SILVEIRA, L.F., BETINI, G.S., CARRANO, E., FRANZ, I., LEES, A.C., LIMA, L.M., PIOLI, D., SCHUNCK, F., AMARAL, F.R., BENCKE, G.A., COHN-HAFT, M., FIGUEIREDO, L.F.A., STRAUBE, F.C. and CESARI, E., 2015. Annotated checklist of the birds of Brazil by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 91-298.).

2.3 Data analysis

We utilized the deterministic IDW interpolation modeling technique to determine areas with higher concentrations (densities) of the target species. This method determines cell values using a linear-weighted combination set of sample points. The weight assigned is a function of the distance of an input point from the output cell locations (Childs, 2004Childs, C., 2004 [viewed 2015 April 19]. Interpolation surfaces in ArcGis Spatial Analyst [online]. Redlands: ESRI. Available from: http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0704/files/interpolating.pdf
http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0704/fi... ). Thereby, weights diminish as the distance increases from the point sampled (Childs, 2004Childs, C., 2004 [viewed 2015 April 19]. Interpolation surfaces in ArcGis Spatial Analyst [online]. Redlands: ESRI. Available from: http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0704/files/interpolating.pdf
http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0704/fi... ; Roberts et al., 2004Roberts, E.A., Sheley, R.L. and Lawrence, R.L., 2004. Using sampling and inverse distance weighted modeling for mapping invasive plants. Western North American Naturalist, vol. 64, no. 3, pp. 312-323.; Abdi and Nandipati, 2009Abdi, A. and Nandipati, A., 2009. Bird diversity modeling using Geostatistics anf GIS. In: 12th AGILE International Conference on Geographic Information Science, 2-5 June 2009, Hannover, Germany. Hannover: Universitat Hannover, pp. 1-20.).

We used Environmental System Research Institute’s (ESRI) ArcGis 10.2.1 to create the density of the three bird groups’ distribution maps through the data provided by IDW technique. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Tukey post-hoc test were utilized to compare the species richness of forest-dependent, endemic and/or threatened birds with the different phytophysiogomies.

The occurrence of protected areas was consulted in the National Register of Protected Areas (http://www.mma.gov.br/areas-protegidas/cadastro-nacional-de-ucs), which is an updated database of the National System of Conservation Units (SNUC). The categories mentioned were: Biological Reserves (REBIO), State Parks (PE), Ecological Stations (ESEC), Municipal Parks (PM), Wildlife Refuges (RVS), Environmental Protection Area (APA), Private Reserves of Natural Heritage (RPPN) and Urban Forest Reserve (FURB) (SNUC, 2000SISTEMA NACIONAL DE UNIDADES DE CONSERVAÇÃO – SNUC, 2000. Sistema Nacional de Unidades de conservação: texto da Lei 9.985 de 18 de julho de 2000 e vetos da presidência da República ao PL aprovado pelo congresso Nacional. 2nd ed. São Paulo: Conselho Nacional da Reserva da Biosfera da Mata Atlântica. 76 p.). This last category was included in the system by law No. 14.324/2011 (Paula, 2012Paula, L.A., 2012. Cadastro das unidades de conservação. In: B.P.C. BRANCO and M.D.V.C. MELO. Saberes e fazeres da Mata Atlântica do Nordeste: tecendo uma rede de gestores. Recife: AMANE, pp. 69-92.).

The IBAs of the northeastern Atlantic Forest cited in this work were those presented in Bencke et al. (2006)Bencke, G.A., Maurício, G.N., Develey, P.F. and Goerck, J.M., 2006. Áreas Importantes para a conservação das aves no Brasil: parte I – estados do domínio da Mata Atlântica. São Paulo: SAVE Brasil. 494 p..

3 Results

The species richness concentration of 171 forest-dependent, 26 endemic and 46 threatened birds were analysed (Table 1). The presence data of these bird groups were collected from 123 sites: 69 in Pernambuco, 40 in Alagoas, 11 in Paraíba and 03 in Rio Grande do Norte (see Figure 1). The information of these sites, phytophysiognomies and richness of the three groups are listed in the Table 2.

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Table 1
List of the forest, endemic and/or threatened birds of the Pernambuco Endemism Center with their respective English names, vegetation types and threat categories. The names in bold represent the endemic birds of the Pernambuco Endemism Center.
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Table 2
Localities in the Pernambuco Endemism Center where ornithological surveys were conducted with their respective geographical coordinates, vegetation types, and species richness of forest-dependent, endemic and/or threatened birds.

The map created through the interpolation method showed greater concentration of forest-dependent birds between the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas, as well as some isolated spots in east and north Pernambuco and in north and west Paraíba (Figure 2a). The maps of the endemic and threatened birds showed similar patterns, but with less representation in the state of Paraíba. Moreover, all three groups of birds had very low densities in the state of Rio Grande do Norte (mainly in the far north) and in the south of the state of Alagoas (Figure 2b, c).

Figure 2
Geographic distribution maps of the total species richness of forest-dependent (a) endemics (b) and threatened birds (c) of the Pernambuco Endemism Center.

There was virtually no difference in the distribution of the species richness of the groups of birds between the phytophysiognomies, with the exception of the areas of pioneer formations (restingas), which presented lower species richness than all other formations (Figure 3; Table 3).

Figure 3
Distribution of the values of species richness of forest, endemic and/or threatened birds in each vegetation type of the Pernambuco Endemism Center (bars indicate 95% of confidence intervals). Vegetation types: OOF – Open Ombrophilous Forest; DOF – Dense Ombrophilous Forest; ETZ – Ecological Tension Zone; SSF – Seasonal Semideciduous Forest; and PF – Pioneer Formation.
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Table 3
Comparison by ANOVA and p values of the Tukey test of species richness of forest-dependent, endemic and threatened birds among the vegetation types of the Pernambuco Endemism Center. The values in bold represent the significant differences with an alpha of 0.05.

Only 32.5% of the forest fragments analysed was found into the boundaries of officially protected areas. The ESEC de Murici is the protected area with the highest number of species of the three bird groups, followed by RPPN Frei Caneca/RPPN Pedra D’Anta, REBIO de Saltinho and RPPN Eco Fazenda Morim (Figure 4a). The non-protected areas that had the largest concentrations of birds from all three groups were: Engenho Coimbra, Mata de Xanguá, Engenho Cachoeira Linda and Mata do Estado (Figure 4b). The protected and non-protected areas with the highest number of species of the three groups overlapped with the following IBAs: Murici, Serra do Urubu, Guadalupe, Engenho Coimbra, and Mata do Estado.

Figure 4
The four protected (a) and non-protected (b) areas with the heighest number of bird species of the three groups in the Pernambuco Endemism Center. T – Threatened with extinction; E – Endemic; and F – Forest-dependent.

4 Discussion

The maps of the target birds made through the information generated by the IDW modeling technique were pretty accurate and showed higher densities in the areas between the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco. Roda et al. (2011)Roda, S.A., Pereira, G.A. and Albano, C., 2011. Conservação de Aves endêmicas e ameaçadas do Centro de Endemismo Pernambuco. Recife: Editora Universitária da UFPE. 79 p. found a distribution more concentrated in that same area for seven endemic and threatened birds. This same pattern of distribution with highest densities of records between the states of Pernambuco and Alagoas was found for some species of forest raptors (Roda and Pereira, 2006Roda, A.S. and Pereira, G.A., 2006. Distribuição recente e conservação das aves de rapina florestais do Centro Pernambuco. Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 331-344.).

As the richness concentration of the target species is distributed almost regularly in all vegetation types, then other variables must be acting on the distribution of these birds. It is known that the bird distribution occurs due to a set of several biotic and abiotic variables, and other factors such as movement and interaction (see Newton, 2003Newton, I., 2003. The speciatiobn & biogeography of birds. San Diego: Academic Press. 668 p.). Owing to the fact that the vegetation heterogeneity and complexity also contribute effectively to the species richness and distribution (Karr, 1990Karr, J.R., 1990. Interactions between forest birds and their habitats: a comparative synthesis. In: A. KEAST. Biogeography and ecology of forest bird communities. The Hague: Academic Publishing, pp. 379-386.), then, this can be the answer to the great richness of bird groups in Pernambuco and Alagoas that have more quantities of forest fragments in later successional stages. Conversely, northern Paraíba and Rio Grande do Norte have low floristic diversity and are lower and drier compared to areas further south (Cestaro, 2002Cestaro, L.A., 2002. Fragmentos de florestas atlânticas no Rio Grande do Norte: relações estruturais, florísticas e fitogeográficas. São Carlos: Universidade Federal de São Carlos, 149 p. Tese de Doutorado em Ecologia e Recursos Florestais.; Olmos, 2003Olmos, F., 2003. Birds of Mata Estrela private reserve, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. Cotinga, n. 20, pp. 26-30.), leading to the lower concentration of birds. Another factor that may be affecting the results is the small number of sampling points further north, although the variables mentioned above may be responsible for the larger concentration of the target birds in Pernambuco and Alagoas.

Among all areas, protected or not protected, the ESEC of Murici was the site that presented the greatest concentration of birds from all three groups. The importance of this reserve (and IBA Murici) is already well known, being considered the place with the largest number of threatened birds of the Americas (Wege and Long, 1995Wege, D.C. and Long, A.J., 1995. Key areas for threatened birds in the Neotropics. Cambridge: BirdLife International. 311 p.; Bencke et al., 2006Bencke, G.A., Maurício, G.N., Develey, P.F. and Goerck, J.M., 2006. Áreas Importantes para a conservação das aves no Brasil: parte I – estados do domínio da Mata Atlântica. São Paulo: SAVE Brasil. 494 p.). Furthermore, Murici also deserves attention by unique bird records that are absent in other parts of the PEC, such as Geotrygon violacea (Temminck, 1809), Trogon rufus Gmelin, 1788, Hypoedaleus guttatus (Vieillot, 1816), Carpornis melanocephala (Wied, 1820), and Corythopis delalandi (Lesson, 1830).

The three Biological Reserves (Saltinho, Pedra Talhada and Guaribas) also play an important role in the conservation of noteworthy birds, such as Leptodon forbesi (Swann, 1922), Touit surdus (Kuhl, 1820), Xipholena atropurpurea (Wied, 1820), and Spinus yarrellii (Audubon, 1839). Moreover, these three biological reserves are inserted in three IBAs (Guadalupe, Mamanguape and Reserva Biológica de Pedra Talhada), confirming the importance of these sites for the conservation of endemic and threatened birds.

The private reserves also are places of great importance for the conservation of endemic and threatened birds in the Atlantic Forest (Oliveira et al., 2010Oliveira, V.B., Paglia, A.P., Fonseca, M. and Guimarães, E., 2010. RPPN e biodiversidade: o papel das reservas particulares na proteção da biodiversidade da Mata Atlântica. São Paulo: Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica. 48 p.). The RPPN Frei Caneca and the RPPN Pedra D’Anta make up a single forest block, being an area of extreme importance for bird conservation in the Neotropical region (Mazar-Barnett et al., 2005Mazar-Barnett, J., Carlos, C.J. and Roda, S.A., 2005. Renewed hope for the threatened avian endemics of northeastern Brazil. Biodiversity and Conservation, vol. 14, no. 9, pp. 2265-2274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-5290-8.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-004-529... ; Roda, 2006Roda, S.A., 2006. Aves. In: K.C. PÔRTO, J.S. ALMEIDA-CORTEZ and M. TABARELLI. Diversidade biológica e conservação da Floresta Atlântica ao Norte do Rio São Francisco. Brasília: Ministério do Meio Ambiente, pp. 279-299.). These two reserves are also inserted into an IBA (Serra do Urubu), and have formerly hosted Philydor novaesi (Teixeira & Gonzaga, 1983), and Cichlocolaptes mazarbarnetti (Mazar-Barnett & Buzzetti, 2014), which are now likely to be extinct (Brasil, 2014BRASIL. Ministério do Meio Ambiente – MMA, 2014. Portarias nº 444 e nº 445, de 18 de dezembro de 2014. Diário Oficial da Repúbica Federativa do Brasil, Brasília, Seção 1, pp. 121-130.; Pereira et al., 2014Pereira, G.A., Dantas, S.M., Silveira, L.F., Roda, A.S., Albano, C., Sonntag, F.A., Leal, S., Periquito, M.C., Malacco, G.B. and Lees, A.C., 2014. Status of the globally threatened forest birds of northeast Brazil. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, vol. 54, no. 14, pp. 177-194. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0031-1049.2014.54.14.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0031-1049.2014... ).

Many unprotected forest patches deserve attention in future conservation plans in the region, especially those that were identified with a greater concentration of birds from all three groups, and which are at the same time located in some IBA. Below, we suggest and emphasize that some forest fragments should be turned into protected areas due to two features mentioned earlier:

  • The forests of Engenho Coimbra and Mata do Pinto in Alagoas. Both belonging to the Serra Grande mill and are inserted in the IBAs Engenho Coimbra and São José da Laje/Canhotinho, respectively. According to Silveira et al. (2003a)Silveira, L.F., Olmos, F. and Long, A., 2003a. Birds in Atlantic Forest Fragments in north-east Brazil. Cotinga, n. 20, pp. 32-46., the Engenho Coimbra comprises one of the most continuous and best-preserved fragments in north-east Brazil. Important birds that can be found there include Penelope superciliaris alagoensis Nardelli, 1993, Terenura sicki (Teixeira & Gonzaga, 1983), and Odontophorus capueira plumbeicollis (Cory, 1915).

  • The forest fragments of Engenho Cachoeira Linda and Mata de Xanguá/Usina Trapiche in south Pernambuco. Both of them are situated within IBA Guadalupe and have important bird records, such as L. forbesi, T. sicki, Anumara forbesi (Sclater, 1886), Myrmoderus ruficauda soror (Pinto, 1940), and X. atropurpurea.

  • The forests in mountainous areas in the municipalities of Bonito and Gravatá. There are still some well-preserved forests; however there are very few protected areas and there is no IBA. There, we can find L. forbesi, Phylloscartes ceciliae (Teixeira, 1987), T. sicki, and Myrmotherula snowi (Teixeira & Gonzaga, 1985).

We conclude that, despite the “simplicity” of the IDW method, the information on the distribution pattern of the bird groups studied in this work were presented for the first time very clearly, concisely and visually, even when comparing it with previous work concerning the distribution pattern of some birds in the region.

In addition, we showed that some protected areas in this region really ensure the conservation of endemic and threatened birds due to the high density of them and being within the limits of the IBAs. Furthermore, we suggested and emphasized the need for the protection of some places of extreme importance for bird conservation. In this way, we hope that these areas may be analyzed with special attention from now on for the next implementation of protected areas programs in the Atlantic Forest.

Acknowledgements

We thank the ornithologists Sergio Leal, Galileu Coelho, Ciro Albano, Francisco Sargot Martin, Mauricio Periquito, Frederico Sonntag, Anita Studer and Marcelo Silva for providing some of their bird records and lists. The first author would like to thank CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Nível Superior) for providing the scholarship for this study. We also thank the owners and directors of the mills, protected and, non-protected areas that we visited. Thanks to John Medcraft and Alexander Lees for revising the English and for great comments.

  • (With 4 figures)

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    27 June 2016
  • Date of issue
    Oct-Dec 2016

History

  • Received
    22 Apr 2015
  • Accepted
    01 Oct 2015
  • Reviewed
    30 Nov 2016
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