A synthesis of ENSO effects on drylands in Australia, North America and South America

Fundamentally, El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a climatic and oceanographic phenomenon, but it has profound effects on terrestrial ecosystems. Although the ecological effects of ENSO are becoming increasingly known from a wide range of terrestrial ecosystems (Holmgren et al., 2001), their impacts have been more intensively studied in arid and semiarid systems. In this brief communication, we summarize the main conclusions of a recent symposium on the effects of ENSO in these ecosystems, which was convened as part of the First Alexander von Humboldt International Conference on the El Niño Phenomenon and its Global Impact, in Guayaquil, Ecuador, from 16–20 May 2005. Participants in the symposium shared results and perspectives from research conducted in North and South America and Australia, regions where the ecological effects of ENSO have been studied in depth. Although the reports covered a wide array of organisms and ecological systems (Fig. 1), a recurring theme was the strong increase in rainfall associated with ENSO events in dry ecosystems (during the El Niño phase of the oscillation in the Americas and the La Niña phase in Australia). Because inter-annual variability in precipitation is such a strong determinant of productivity in arid and semiarid ecosystems, increased ENSO rainfall is crucial for plant recruitment, productivity and diversity in these ecosystems. Several long-term studies show that this pulse in primary productivity causes a subsequent increase in herbivores, followed by an increase in carnivores, with consequences for changes in ecosystem structure and functioning that can be quite complex

Endemic Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis in Northern Peru

Since Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) was isolated in Peru in 1942, >70 isolates have been obtained from mosquitoes, humans, and sylvatic mammals primarily in the Amazon region. To investigate genetic relationships among the Peru VEEV isolates and between the Peru isolates and other VEEV strains, a fragment of the PE2 gene was amplified and analyzed by single-stranded conformation polymorphism. Representatives of seven genotypes underwent sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. The results identified four VEE complex lineages that cocirculate in the Amazon region: subtypes ID (Panama and Colombia/Venezuela genotypes), IIIC, and a new, proposed subtype IIID, which was isolated from a febrile human, mosquitoes, and spiny rats. Both ID lineages and the IIID subtype are associated with febrile human illness. Most of the subtype ID isolates belonged to the Panama genotype, but the Colombia/Venezuela genotype, which is phylogenetically related to epizootic strains, also continues to circulate in the Amazon basin

Nonvolant mammal megadiversity and conservation issues in a threatened central amazonian hotspot in Brazil

Amazonia National Park is located in southwestern Pará State in central Amazonia. The 10,707 km2 park is one of the largest protected areas in Brazil and is covered with pristine forests, but the region is threatened by dam construction projects. An incomplete mammal biodiversity inventory was conducted in the area during the late 1970s. Here, we present results of sampling from 7,295 live-trap nights, 6,000 pitfall-trap nights, more than 1,200 km of walking transect censuses, and approximately 3,500 camera-trap days, all conducted between 2012 and 2014. These sampling efforts generated a list of 86 known species of nonvolant mammals, making the park the single most species-rich area for nonvolant mammals both in the Amazon Basin and in the Neotropics as a whole. Amazonia National Park is a megadiverse site, as is indicated by its mammalian richness, which includes 15 threatened mammal species and 5 to 12 new species of small mammals. As such, it merits being a high-conservation priority and should be an important focus of Brazilian authorities’ and the international scientific community’s conservation efforts. A comprehensive conservation plan is urgently needed, especially given the ecological threats posed by dam construction. © The Author(s) 2016

The non-volant mammals of the Estacíon Biológica Allpahuayo: Assessment of the natural history and community ecology of a proposed reserve

South American mammals have received increasing attention in recent years in part due to their high species diversity, functional complexity at the level of communities, and endangerment as a result of anthropogenic activities. These activities include deforestation and habitat alteration, the 2 major threats to biodiversity in the Neotropics. Indeed, many habitats are lost before basic inventories of plant and animal communities can be compiled. In addition, basic natural history information is lacking for many, if not most, neotropical species, especially in the Amazon Basin. Such basic information is essential for natural resource management and conservation to be successful. To obtain such information at one site, the small mammal community at the Estacion Biologica Allpahuayo in northeastern Peru was monitored for 18-months. Data were collected to describe and quantify small mammal communities in pristine habitats and document the impacts of disturbance on these communities. These data represent one of the most comprehensive data sets on mammals ever collected from one site in Amazonia. A total of 37 species of marsupials (13) and rodents (24) were documented at the site, which represents one of the most species-rich communities reported from the Neotropics. Estimates of local species richness indicate that the small mammal community was sampled approximately 90% completely, but that only 64% of species that occur in the region were documented. Communities in forested habitat were more rich and diverse than those present in secondary growth and communities in older secondary growth were more diverse than those in more recently disturbed habitats. Community composition also changed significantly among different aged habitats, with unique species present in both disturbed and undisturbed habitats. Those present in disturbed areas tended to be habitat generalists whereas those in forest wore habitat specialists. One encouraging result was that the mammal community in 15-year-old disturbed habitat was equally diverse and similar in community composition to that present in mature forest. This suggests that small mammal communities can recover from disturbance events in a relatively short period of time, if the area remains fallow during the recovery period and is adjacent to mature forest. The latter of these is important for facilitating dispersal of forest species into these areas. The structure of the dominance hierarchy of communities did not change in different habitat types. However, different species were dominant in different habitats, with Philander opossum and Proechimys brevicauda dominant in disturbed areas and Proechimys cuvieri and Oryzomys perenensis dominant in mature forest. To maintain the high number of species present at EBA, large tracts of rain forest must be preserved intact. The biggest source of habitat disturbance and fragmentation in the Iquitos area is anthropogenic in origin, particularly subsistence farming. Whereas a low level of this type of disturbance increases mammalian diversity by providing a mosaic of disturbed and undisturbed habitats across the landscape, too much disturbance will upset that balance and diversity will begin to decline as forested habitats become isolated. Educating the local people about the importance of conserving the rain forest needs to be a priority if it is to be preserved in the Iquitos region. Methods that lessen their impact on rain forest resources, but are profitable, need to be developed and implemented. However, it is difficult to preserve what is not understood. Studies such as this increase our understanding of the ecology of one aspect of the rain forest biome. This, coupled with other studies in other areas of biology, lays the foundation for understanding and thus, preserving this magnificent biome

Relative effectiveness of several bait and trap types for assessing terrestrial small mammal communities in neotropical rainforest /

no.316 (2013

The non-volant mammals of the Galveston Bay region, Texas

Volume: 194Start Page: 1End Page: 2

The non-volant mammals of the Galveston Bay Region, Texas /

no.194 (1999

The non-volant mammals of the Reserva Nacional Allpahuayo-Mishana, Loreto, Peru /

no.60 (2012