Sueli Souza Damasceno
This project aims to investigate how the loss of forest cover and the characteristics of local vegetation affect different components of the diversity (taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional) of birds in forest remnants and cocoa agroforestry. Therefore: 1) We will compare how different dimensions of bird diversity behave in contrasting environments; particularly investigating whether cocoa agroforests are reservoirs of diversity when compared to forests, 2)evaluate if the components of bird diversity in cocoa agroforestry and forest fragments are similarly affected by changes in local and landscape-scale characteristics, here assessed how changes in local vegetation structure and amount of forest cover, respectively, and 3) evaluate if there is a threshold value of forest cover and local conditions that allow the maintenance of taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity of the bird community.
Currently, the conversion of forest into anthropic landscapes dominated by monocultures is the main responsible for the reduction of biodiversity, especially in the tropical regions. An example of this fact is the Atlantic Forest of the south of Bahia, with high endemism and species richness and that every year loses large portions of area. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the effects of changes in land use from fragmentation and loss of forest on local fauna.
My research project “Predicting the components of bird diversity in forests and agroforests in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest" aims to evaluate how the structure of the landscape and the local characteristics of different environments (forest fragments and agroforestry of cacau-Theobroma cacao) in 36 fragments in southern Bahia (the municipality of Uruçuca, Ilhéus, Una and Belmonte) affect the taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity of the bird community. At the end of this study, it is expected to understand how the structure of the landscape affects the diversity and organization of the bird community in environments with different disturbance intensities.