Lista comentada das aves do Brasil pelo comite Brasileiro de registros ornitologicos

Since 2005, the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee (CBRO) has published updated checklists of Brazilian birds almost every year. Herein, we present a completely new and annotated version of our checklist. For the first time, we list all bird subspecies known from Brazil that are currently accepted by at least one key ornithological reference work. The inclusion of the subspecies should be seen as a synthesis, and not as a taxonomic endorsement. As such, we include in the new checklist 1919 avian species, 910 of which are treated as polytypic in reference works (2042 subspecies), totaling 3051 taxa at the species and subspecies level. We anticipate that several of the subspecies included in our list may be subject to future taxonomic upgrades to species status, while others will probably be shown to be invalid in the light of future taxonomic studies. The results highlight Brazil as a megadiverse country and reinforce the need for proper enforcement of political tools, laws and international commitments assumed by the country to preserve its biodiversity. © 2015, Sociedade Brasileira de Ornitologia. All rights reserved

The nest of the grey-headed flycatcher Mionectes rufiventris

Volume: 115Start Page: 105End Page: 10

Four decades after Belton: a review of records and evidences on the avifauna of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

ABSTRACT We present a new update of the list of birds of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, based on a thorough review of new records and evidences accumulated from February 2011 to July 2017. This is the fifth update since the first compilation based on a reasonably complete geographic coverage of the state, published by William Belton in 1978, and the second produced by a regional (informal) committee. It is also the first to widely use citizen science contributions available on shared portals and digital databases on the internet. Forty-three taxa were added, resulting in a final list with 704 species, 6.5% more than in the previous assessment in 2010. Two species were replaced due to taxonomic changes. Documentation for inclusions based on unpublished records is indicated or published here. We also updated the documentation of another 20 species previously included in the list. Inclusions represent mainly migrants recorded in the state as vagrants or irregular visitors (22), but also cases of recent range expansion (especially from the north) and previously overlooked resident or migratory taxa. The average rate of additions (over six species per year) was 30% higher than in the previous period and is expected to accelerate. The percentage of accepted species without documented records in the state decreased from 1.8% in 2010 to 0.7% in the current list. We attribute these results to a better spatial and temporal coverage of the state in recent years, mainly due to the increasing contribution of amateurs, who accounted for 60% of the new occurrences. In contrast, the percentage of species documented by museum specimens has decreased steadily over time (currently at 84%). Investment in scientific research and collection of voucher specimens in the state should keep pace with the growing interest birds arouse in society, due to the importance and usefulness of museum specimens

Review of the breeding status of birds in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Information on the breeding biology of birds is essential for improving avian life-history theory and implementing sound management and conservation actions for these organisms. Comprehensive reviews of this kind of information are lacking for most Neotropical regions, including Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost Brazilian state. Aiming to update the knowledge on the reproductive status of birds in Rio Grande do Sul, we reviewed breeding records of all potential breeding species recorded in the state using a set of predefined, restrictive criteria for accepting breeding evidences as effective. Data satisfying our criteria were available for 165 species in the literature. We also collected novel breeding information obtained in the state for an additional 126 species, including observations for several species whose reproductive biology is poorly known. Among these are birds previously unknown to breed in Brazil. This new data and the critical review of the previous information resulted in a total of 291 species for which breeding evidences are accepted as effective. This corresponds to 54.7% of the 532 species considered either confirmed or potential breeders in the state. In addition to providing information on nesting dates, clutch size, nest architecture and breeding behavior of south Brazilian birds, our review serves as a benchmark for the adequate assessment of avian breeding records elsewhere. We hope to stimulate observers to rigorously document breeding events, especially for taxa for which basic information is lacking

A new analytical framework for Maxent species distribution models unveils complex spatiotemporal suitability patterns for two migratory seedeaters (Aves: Sporophila) of conservation concern

Maxent species distribution models (SDMs) for rare, migratory taxa can be hindered by methodological and analytical issues. To overcome these problems, we developed an analytical framework to build SDMs for key stages of the annual lifecycle of the Marsh Seedeater and the Black-bellied Seedeater, two Neotropical grassland bird species of conservation concern. Occurrence data were compiled from multiple sources and ten environmental variables were used as predictors. We built SDMs with different spatial partitions, feature classes, and regularization multipliers, and devised a procedure to select models with high discrimination ability, low overfitting, statistically significant performance metrics, and high biological realism. From a total of 992 SDMs, 22 fully met the selection criteria for both species. These selected SDMs were equally or less overfit than non-selected ones and were mostly trained with the checkerboard 2 and n − 1 jackknife partitions. For each modeling scenario, we projected and interpreted composite models that emphasized areas of both consensus and divergence across individual predictions, rather than choosing a single model from the set of final SDMs. In the breeding season, areas of highest suitability occurred in restricted, disjunct sectors of the Campos and Pampas grasslands for the Marsh Seedeater and the highland grasslands of southern Brazil for the Black-bellied Seedeater. In the winter, high suitability for the Marsh Seedeater occurred in the western and northern Cerrado and the Pantanal, while in the spring migration, high suitability for the Black-bellied Seedeater was mostly concentrated in the southeastern portion of the Cerrado. The restricted breeding distribution of the Black-bellied Seedeater suggests that its conservation status should be reviewed. Both species shift their climatic niches and track their habitats throughout the year, responding to a few topographic, land-use, and climatic variables that represent different niche components. By addressing major modeling issues in a three-step model selection procedure, we were able to project precise and biologically interpretable SDMs with the level of complexity required for each modeling scenario. Our framework is readily replicable and can be used to unravel intricate spatial suitability patterns of organisms whose distribution undergoes temporal shifts throughout the year.Fil: Antunes Días, Rafael. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Perin Marcon, Amanda. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Batista Kappes, Bruna. Universidade Federal de Pelotas; BrasilFil: Azpiroz, Adrián B.. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas "Clemente Estable"; UruguayFil: Gonçalves Barbosa, Fabiana. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande; BrasilFil: Bencke, Glayson Ariel. Secretaria do Meio Ambiente e Infraestrutura. Museu de Ciências Naturais; ArgentinaFil: Clay, Robert. Red Hemisférica de Reservas Para Aves Playeras; ParaguayFil: Di Giacomo, Adrian Santiago. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral. Universidad Nacional del Nordeste. Centro de Ecología Aplicada del Litoral; ArgentinaFil: Suertegaray Fontana, Carla. Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul; BrasilFil: Repenning, Márcio. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande; BrasilFil: Sarquis, Juan Andrés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe. Instituto Nacional de Limnología. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Instituto Nacional de Limnología; ArgentinaFil: Areta, Juan Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Salta. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA. Universidad Nacional de Salta. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales. Museo de Ciencias Naturales. Instituto de Bio y Geociencias del NOA; Argentin

12,500+ and counting: biodiversity of the Brazilian Pampa

Knowledge on biodiversity is fundamental for conservation strategies. The Brazilian Pampa region, located in subtropical southern Brazil, is neglected in terms of conservation, and knowledge of its biodiversity is fragmented. We aim to answer the question: how many, and which, species occur in the Brazilian Pampa? In a collaborative effort, we built species lists for plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi that occur in the Brazilian Pampa. We included information on distribution patterns, main habitat types, and conservation status. Our study resulted in referenced lists totaling 12,503 species (12,854 taxa, when considering infraspecific taxonomic categories [or units]). Vascular plants amount to 3,642 species (including 165 Pteridophytes), while algae have 2,046 species (2,378 taxa) and bryophytes 316 species (318 taxa). Fungi (incl. lichenized fungi) contains 1,141 species (1,144 taxa). Animals total 5,358 species (5,372 taxa). Among the latter, vertebrates comprise 1,136 species, while invertebrates are represented by 4,222 species. Our data indicate that, according to current knowledge, the Pampa holds approximately 9% of the Brazilian biodiversity in an area of little more than 2% of Brazil’s total land. The proportion of species restricted to the Brazilian Pampa is low (with few groups as exceptions), as it is part of a larger grassland ecoregion and in a transitional climatic setting. Our study yielded considerably higher species numbers than previously known for many species groups; for some, it provides the first published compilation. Further efforts are needed to increase knowledge in the Pampa and other regions of Brazil. Considering the strategic importance of biodiversity and its conservation, appropriate government policies are needed to fund studies on biodiversity, create accessible and constantly updated biodiversity databases, and consider biodiversity in school curricula and other outreach activities