Banca de DEFESA: Marco Rodrigo de Souza

Absence of fire as a structuring factor of mammal assemblage at the Serra das Araras Ecological

 Station, in southwest Mato Grosso-Brazil

Cerrado, wildfires, diversity, mammals, habitat use

The Cerrado domain is known to be the largest tropical savannah region in South America, making up, in turn, the second largest biome in Brazil that is affected by natural or anthropogenic events, such as fires. In this Biome, natural fires caused by lightning occur, being relatively frequent, occurring mainly in the dry-rain transition. Such repetitive processes can cause a reduction in available food for fauna, vegetation fragmentation, among other effects. In this case, it may generate impacts on the population of medium and large mammals. In this way, changes in the structure of the community of medium and large mammals at the UC Estação Ecológica Serra das Araras were evaluated after a period of 17 years without the interference of fire, from 1999 to 2016. Between October 2016 and June 2017, changes were four Cerrado phytophysiognomies were sampled: gallery forest, dry forest, babassu forest and cerrado stricto sensu (ss), using camera traps installed in tree trunks in places with traces of mammals. In this study, 28 species of medium and large mammals were recorded. Species richness did not present a statistically significant difference between the sampled habitats, however the species composition between the habitats was observed that the “cerrado serra”, located 800m of altitude was different from the other areas. When comparing the species composition between the current study and the year 1999/2000, it can be seen that the cerrado ss differs from the other areas, and that the current cerrado ss is closer to forest areas than in 1999/2000 due to the absence Of fire. Habitat transformation may be influencing the structure of the medium and large mammal community at ESEC Serra das Araras. Previously open areas are being invaded by tree vegetation and its associated fauna, thus becoming ideal habitats for forest-dependent species. Typical open cerrado mammals are losing habitats and often occupying areas outside the UC. Thus, large species such as some carnivores and frugivores are exposed to hunting.