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Ferns, frogs, lizards, birds and bats in forest fragments and shade cacao plantations in two contrasting landscapes in the Atlantic forest, Brazil

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Abstract

The traditional shade cacao plantations (cabrucas) of southern Bahia, Brazil, are biologically rich habitats, encompassing many forest-dwelling species. However, a critical question for the conservation management of this specific region, and the highly fragmented Atlantic forest in general, is to what extent the conservation value of cabrucas relies on the presence of primary forest habitat in the landscape. We investigated the relative importance of cabrucas and forests for the conservation of five diverse biological groups (ferns, frogs, lizards, birds and bats) in two contrasting landscapes in southern Bahia, one dominated by forest with some interspersed cabrucas, and one dominated by cabrucas with interspersed forest fragments. The community structure (richness, abundance and diversity) of all biological groups differed between cabrucas and forests, although these differences varied among groups. A high number of forest species was found in the cabrucas. However, there were pronounced differences between the two landscapes with regard to the ability of cabrucas to maintain species richness. Irrespective of the biological group considered, cabrucas located in the landscape with few and small forest fragments supported impoverished assemblages compared to cabrucas located in the landscape with high forest cover. This suggests that a greater extent of native forest in the landscape positively influences the species richness of cabrucas. In the landscape with few small forest fragments interspersed into extensive areas of shade cacao plantations, the beta diversity of birds was higher than in the more forested landscape, suggesting that forest specialist species that rarely ventured into cabrucas were randomly lost from the fragments. These results stress both the importance and the vulnerability of the small forest patches remaining in landscapes dominated by shade plantations. They also point to the need to preserve sufficient areas of primary habitat even in landscapes where land use practices are generally favorable to the conservation of biodiversity.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Raw, R. Peres, R. Ewers, C. Harvey, G. Schroth and one anonymous reviewer for their valuable comments and revisions. This study was possible due to the collaborative work of the ‘RestaUna’ team. Financial support was granted by PROBIO—PRONABIO/MMA—CNPq/BIRD. Doctoral and Master fellowships from FAPESP were granted to D. Faria and M. Dixo, respectively, CAPES provided grants to J. Baumgarten and M. Paciencia, and CNPq- Programa Nordeste supported R. Laps. Permits for collect bats (02001.001003/97) and herpetological material (02201.005580/98) were provided by the Brazilian Federal Environmental Agency (IBAMA). Logistical facilities during field work were provided by UESC and IBAMA. Special thanks go to Saturnino de Sousa, Director of Reserva Biológica de Una, and to local landowners Sam and Camilo, Seu Mário, Zé Raimundo, Juarez, Helfred, Lilo and Dr. Amilton. We are also grateful to IESB for providing aerial photographs and satellite imagery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Ilhéus Itabuna, Km 16, Ilheus, BA, CEP 45650-000, Brazil

    Deborah Faria & Julio Baumgarten

  2. Herbário UNIP, Universidade Paulista, Avenida Paulista 900, 1°andar, Bela Vista, Sao Paulo, SP, CEP 01310-100, Brazil

    Mateus Luís Barradas Paciencia

  3. Laboratório de Ecologia da Paisagem e Conservação (LEPAC). Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, – Travessa 14, 321, Sao Paulo, SP, CEP 05508-900, Brazil

    Marianna Dixo

  4. Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Regional de Blumenau (FURB), Cx. Postal 1507, Blumenau, SC, CEP 89010-971, Brazil

    Rudi Ricardo Laps

  5. Pós-Graduação em Ecologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil

    Rudi Ricardo Laps

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  1. Deborah Faria
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  2. Mateus Luís Barradas Paciencia
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  3. Marianna Dixo
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  4. Rudi Ricardo Laps
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  5. Julio Baumgarten
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Deborah Faria.

Appendix

Appendix

Appendix 1 Species abundance of ferns and the litter fauna of frogs and lizards sampled in four combinations of habitats (forest fragments and cabrucas) located in two landscapes (Una and Ilhéus) of southern Bahia, Brazil
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Faria, D., Paciencia, M.L.B., Dixo, M. et al. Ferns, frogs, lizards, birds and bats in forest fragments and shade cacao plantations in two contrasting landscapes in the Atlantic forest, Brazil. Biodivers Conserv 16, 2335–2357 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-007-9189-z

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