Suscetibilidade à extinção em aves da Mata Atlântica

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest is one of 34 global biodiversity hotspots. Brazil leads the number of species of endangered birds with 123 species, of which 76 (61.8%) are in the Atlantic Forest. Empirical evidence suggests that some species are extremely vulnerable because they have a combination of features that enhance the risk of extinction. The present study analyzed the influence of a group of natural history characteristics of species (sensitivity to disturbances, relative abundance, number of exploited habitats, preferred area of altitude, minimum and maximum elevations explored, body weight and extent of the geographical range) on the susceptibility to extinction in birds of the Atlantic Forest, considering the effects of phylogeny.. The comparative phylogenetic method employed was Phylogenetic Eigenvector Regression, PVR. The analysis resulted in a model that combines three characteristics (relative abundance, number of habitats exploited and maximum elevation) as the best predictors of extinction risk. The results suggest that birds typically rare, limited to lower altitudes and more specialist to the habitat exploited tend to be more susceptible to threats that lead to the extinction. The other variables tested showed no significant relationship with the risk of extinction for the data group studied. Studies on the patterns of extinction are important to support decision making in strategic planning for the conservation of species.