The local extinction of habitat patches and dispersal between the patches are important processes structuring animal populations in heterogeneous environments. Understanding these two processes is crucial for the conservation of wildlife populations in landscapes impacted by human land-use. Approximately 50% of the subtropical rainforest in South East Queensland, Australia has been lost to deforestation over the last 100 years. While large areas of rainforest are reserved, little is known about the distribution and population status of rainforest birds within smaller remnants in the region. The overall research problem for this thesis was to understand how deforestation and fragmentation of subtropical rainforest affects the occurrence of rainforest birds and the effective dispersal of a rainforest-restricted species, the logrunner (Orthonyx temminckii). Understanding why some bird species are lost from habitat patches while others remain will lead to improved conservation of extinction prone species in fragmented landscapes. Although the mechanisms underlying local extinctions are well established in temperate systems, the relative importance of local and regional processes on species occurrence in subtropical and tropical rainforests is poorly understood. Chapter 2 investigated the relative effects of life history and scale of habitat modification on avian site occupancy using observational data collected at 46 rainforest sites in South East Queensland. A probabilistic model for the joint site occupancy of 29 bird species was used to evaluate hypotheses for the effects of avian life history traits on the occurrence of multiple species. The single-species occurrence models incorporated habitat effects on detection, which may be especially important in rainforests because dense vegetation and idiosyncratic occurrence of species can interfere with sampling. Occupancy rates for each species were modelled to determine the relative influence of process operating at the stand, landscape and patch scales. The life history analysis indicated taxonomic Family, body mass, migratory strategy and feeding strata had large effects on avian site occupancy, whereas abundance traits such as mean density and extent of occurrence showed little predictive ability. After accounting for correlated extinction risk attributed to life history, the degradation of stand structure at the local scale was more important for species richness than habitat modification at landscape or patch scales. While individual species showed various responses to the different scales of habitat modification, the distribution of many species was limited by vegetation structure at the landscape scale. Maintaining stand basal area and restoring degraded rainforests at the local scale will increase the probability of occupancy for members of the rainforest bird community. However, revegetation and retention of forest cover at the landscape scale may be necessary for the successful colonisation of many species. Chapter 3 introduced a predictive hypothesis-driven approach for quantifying the relative contribution of historic and contemporary processes to genetic connectivity. Current analytic frameworks in population genetics have difficulty evaluating meaningful hypotheses about spatial processes in dynamic landscapes. Confronting genetic data with models of historic and contemporary landscapes allowed the identification of dispersal processes operating in naturally heterogeneous and human-altered systems. Two measures of indirect gene flow were estimated from microsatellite polymorphism among 11 logrunner populations. Of particular interest was how much information in the genetic data was attributable to processes occurring in a reconstructed historic landscape and a contemporary human-modified landscape. A linear mixed model was used to estimate appropriate sampling variance from non-independent data and information-theoretic model selection provided strength of evidence for alternate hypotheses. The historic and contemporary landscapes explained an equal proportion of variation in genetic differentiation and there was considerable evidence for a temporal shift in dispersal pattern. Migration rates estimated from genealogical information were primarily influenced by contemporary landscape change. Landscape heterogeneity appeared to facilitate gene flow prior to European settlement, but contemporary deforestation is rapidly becoming the most important barrier to logrunner dispersal. Understanding asymmetric dispersal is becoming an important consideration for the conservation metapopulations. Populations acting as net exporters of dispersing animals may be able to rescue local populations from extinction and allow metapopulations to persist in degraded landscapes impacted by habitat loss. In Chapter 4, I estimated bidirectional migration rates from genetic data to infer dispersal among 11 logrunner populations. The first question posed was, does logrunner dispersal correspond to the source-sink or balanced model of dispersal? The second question involved determining the strength of evidence for two hypotheses about how landscape structure has affected asymmetric dispersal. Hypothesis one proposed that asymmetric dispersal was primarily influenced by naturally occurring habitat heterogeneity. Hypothesis two asserted that asymmetric dispersal was predominantly influenced by anthropogenic landscape change. The data were confronted with the alternate hypotheses using linear mixed models and landscape covariates extracted from digital maps. The results showed the direction of asymmetric dispersal was consistent with source-sink population structure. I also discovered that the asymmetry in dispersal was influenced more by anthropogenic landscape change than by naturally occurring habitat heterogeneity. Intact landscapes were net exporters of dispersing logrunners while landscapes heavily impacted by rainforest clearing were net importers of individuals. Elevated immigration rates into landscapes impacted by rainforest clearing appeared to arrest population declines in accordance with the rescue effect. The primary conclusion emerging from the study of patch occupancy and dispersal was that logrunner populations in South East Queensland conformed to a mainland-island metapopulation. Asymmetric dispersal from the largest expanse of upland rainforest appeared to prevent fragmented rainforests in close proximity from going locally extinct. While the distribution of logrunners was limited by the spatial configuration of rainforest patches, other rainforest birds exhibited variable responses to scale of habitat modification. The most consistent pattern was several species dropping-out of the community in degraded stands affected by selective timber harvest. Deforestation at the landscape scale also played a role in the extremely low patch occupancy rates of Albert’s lyrebirds (Menura alberti) and green catbirds (Ailuroedus crassirostris).

The local extinction of habitat patches and dispersal between the patches are important processes structuring animal populations in heterogeneous environments. Understanding these two processes is crucial for the conservation of wildlife populations in landscapes impacted by human land-use. Approximately 50% of the subtropical rainforest in South East Queensland, Australia has been lost to deforestation over the last 100 years. While large areas of rainforest are reserved, little is known about the distribution and population status of rainforest birds within smaller remnants in the region. The overall research problem for this thesis was to understand how deforestation and fragmentation of subtropical rainforest affects the occurrence of rainforest birds and the effective dispersal of a rainforest-restricted species, the logrunner (Orthonyx temminckii). Understanding why some bird species are lost from habitat patches while others remain will lead to improved conservation of extinction prone species in fragmented landscapes. Although the mechanisms underlying local extinctions are well established in temperate systems, the relative importance of local and regional processes on species occurrence in subtropical and tropical rainforests is poorly understood. Chapter 2 investigated the relative effects of life history and scale of habitat modification on avian site occupancy using observational data collected at 46 rainforest sites in South East Queensland. A probabilistic model for the joint site occupancy of 29 bird species was used to evaluate hypotheses for the effects of avian life history traits on the occurrence of multiple species. The single-species occurrence models incorporated habitat effects on detection, which may be especially important in rainforests because dense vegetation and idiosyncratic occurrence of species can interfere with sampling. Occupancy rates for each species were modelled to determine the relative influence of process operating at the stand, landscape and patch scales. The life history analysis indicated taxonomic Family, body mass, migratory strategy and feeding strata had large effects on avian site occupancy, whereas abundance traits such as mean density and extent of occurrence showed little predictive ability. After accounting for correlated extinction risk attributed to life history, the degradation of stand structure at the local scale was more important for species richness than habitat modification at landscape or patch scales. While individual species showed various responses to the different scales of habitat modification, the distribution of many species was limited by vegetation structure at the landscape scale. Maintaining stand basal area and restoring degraded rainforests at the local scale will increase the probability of occupancy for members of the rainforest bird community. However, revegetation and retention of forest cover at the landscape scale may be necessary for the successful colonisation of many species. Chapter 3 introduced a predictive hypothesis-driven approach for quantifying the relative contribution of historic and contemporary processes to genetic connectivity. Current analytic frameworks in population genetics have difficulty evaluating meaningful hypotheses about spatial processes in dynamic landscapes. Confronting genetic data with models of historic and contemporary landscapes allowed the identification of dispersal processes operating in naturally heterogeneous and human-altered systems. Two measures of indirect gene flow were estimated from microsatellite polymorphism among 11 logrunner populations. Of particular interest was how much information in the genetic data was attributable to processes occurring in a reconstructed historic landscape and a contemporary human-modified landscape. A linear mixed model was used to estimate appropriate sampling variance from non-independent data and information-theoretic model selection provided strength of evidence for alternate hypotheses. The historic and contemporary landscapes explained an equal proportion of variation in genetic differentiation and there was considerable evidence for a temporal shift in dispersal pattern. Migration rates estimated from genealogical information were primarily influenced by contemporary landscape change. Landscape heterogeneity appeared to facilitate gene flow prior to European settlement, but contemporary deforestation is rapidly becoming the most important barrier to logrunner dispersal. Understanding asymmetric dispersal is becoming an important consideration for the conservation metapopulations. Populations acting as net exporters of dispersing animals may be able to rescue local populations from extinction and allow metapopulations to persist in degraded landscapes impacted by habitat loss. In Chapter 4, I estimated bidirectional migration rates from genetic data to infer dispersal among 11 logrunner populations. The first question posed was, does logrunner dispersal correspond to the source-sink or balanced model of dispersal? The second question involved determining the strength of evidence for two hypotheses about how landscape structure has affected asymmetric dispersal. Hypothesis one proposed that asymmetric dispersal was primarily influenced by naturally occurring habitat heterogeneity. Hypothesis two asserted that asymmetric dispersal was predominantly influenced by anthropogenic landscape change. The data were confronted with the alternate hypotheses using linear mixed models and landscape covariates extracted from digital maps. The results showed the direction of asymmetric dispersal was consistent with source-sink population structure. I also discovered that the asymmetry in dispersal was influenced more by anthropogenic landscape change than by naturally occurring habitat heterogeneity. Intact landscapes were net exporters of dispersing logrunners while landscapes heavily impacted by rainforest clearing were net importers of individuals. Elevated immigration rates into landscapes impacted by rainforest clearing appeared to arrest population declines in accordance with the rescue effect. The primary conclusion emerging from the study of patch occupancy and dispersal was that logrunner populations in South East Queensland conformed to a mainland-island metapopulation. Asymmetric dispersal from the largest expanse of upland rainforest appeared to prevent fragmented rainforests in close proximity from going locally extinct. While the distribution of logrunners was limited by the spatial configuration of rainforest patches, other rainforest birds exhibited variable responses to scale of habitat modification. The most consistent pattern was several species dropping-out of the community in degraded stands affected by selective timber harvest. Deforestation at the landscape scale also played a role in the extremely low patch occupancy rates of Albert’s lyrebirds (Menura alberti) and green catbirds (Ailuroedus crassirostris).

Submitted by Claudia Rocha (claudia.rocha@udesc.br) on 2018-03-09T16:30:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PGCA16MA203.pdf: 927094 bytes, checksum: ed95c2a7a51b51406194ad3ba5a5d585 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-09T16:30:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PGCA16MA203.pdf: 927094 bytes, checksum: ed95c2a7a51b51406194ad3ba5a5d585 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-07-04 / Capes / The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus), considered as Near Threatened by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is an annual visitor of Southern Brazil’s coastal waters during their natural austral winter migration. Due to growing anthropogenic threats, an increasing number of debilitated juvenile individuals is rescued in the coast of Santa Catarina and taken to rehabilitation centers to be clinically treated and evaluated for re-introduction. This constitutes an essential step for this species conservation, allowing rescued groups a safe return to their breeding colonies, in South Argentina. Biochemical analysis is an important tool to assist in the health evaluation and disease diagnostics of wild birds because the clinical signs in these animals are often inexpressive. A field manual compiled by Brazilian environmental and marine authorities in 2010 proposed standardizing the diagnostic methods applied in penguin rehabilitation facilities. These guidelines recommend plasma with heparin or ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) for hematology and serum for biochemistry analysis. In this work we tested the viability of plasma for biochemistry analysis in an attempt to minimize blood sampling volume and material, favoring a faster recovery and maximizing resources. The samples of serum and 14 plasma with two anticoagulants, EDTA 3% and sodium heparin, were obtained from 34 rescued penguins considered for re-introduction evaluation at the Wild Animal Screening Center (CETAS) of Florianópolis. Fifteen biochemical analytes were determined at the laboratory of Clinical Pathology in the Agro-Veterinary Sciences Center of the University of the State of Santa Catarina (LPC-CAV-UDESC), namely: uric acid (ACU), albumin (ALB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), cholesterol (CHOL), creatine kinase (CK), alkaline phosphatase (FA), gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), glucose (GLU), globulins, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), total proteins (PT), triglycerides (TG), urea (UR) and free hemoglobin (HB). Hemolysis was assessed by two different methods; and sample values outside of referenced HB limits, proposed by either the reagent manufacturer or previous avian biochemistry studies, were excluded. Results showed that EDTA was less efficient than heparin in minimizing in-vitro hemolysis. Statistical differences between serum and plasma samples were fewer in heparinized samples. All mean values of heparinized plasma samples from healthy individuals fell within AZA (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) reference intervals, in contrast to serum and plasma with EDTA. As a conclusion, we verified that for the adopted methodology, despite some limitations in albumin and triglycerides measurement, heparinized plasma, unlike plasma/EDTA, is a reliable sample in determining most analytes evaluated in Magellanic penguins during rehabilitation / O pinguim-de-Magalhães (Spheniscus magellanicus), animal considerado como Quase Ameaçado pela União Internacional para Conservação da Natureza (IUCN), visita anualmente as águas costeiras do Sul do Brasil durante a sua migração natural de inverno. Devido às crescentes ameaças antropogênicas, tem aumentado o número de indivíduos juvenis debilitados que são resgatados na costa de Santa Catarina e levados para centros de reabilitação para serem clinicamente tratados e avaliados para soltura. Este pensa-se ser um importante passo na conservação desta espécie, permitindo aos grupos resgatados um retorno seguro às suas colónias de reprodução, no sul da Argentina. A bioquímica clinica é uma importante ferramenta no diagnóstico laboratorial para auxiliar na avaliação da saúde de aves selvagens, uma vez que os sinais clínicos nestes animais são muitas vezes pouco expressivos. Em 2010, as autoridades ambientais e marinhas brasileiras compilaram um manual de campo propondo a padronização dos métodos de diagnóstico a aplicar em centros de reabilitação de pinguins, com vista a melhorar o sucesso na sua reintrodução. Estas diretrizes recomendam o plasma com heparina ou ácido 10 etilenodiaminotetracético (EDTA) para a hematologia e o soro para a análise bioquímica. No presente trabalho pesquisou-se a viabilidade da utilização de plasma na análise bioquímica, no sentido de tentar minimizar o volume de sangue amostrado e material dispendido, favorecendo uma recuperação mais rápida e maximizando recursos. Recolheram-se amostras de soro e plasma com dois anticoagulantes, EDTA 3% e heparina de sódio, de 34 pinguins resgatados e em estágio de avaliação para reintrodução no Centro de Triagem de Animais Selvagens (CETAS) de Florianópolis. Os valores de 15 analitos bioquímicos foram determinados no laboratório de Patologia Clínica do Centro de Ciências Agroveterinárias da Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina (LPC-CAV-UDESC), nomeadamente: Ácido Úrico (ACU), Albumina (ALB), Alanina Aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartato Aminotransferase (AST), Colesterol (CHOL), Creatinaquinase (CK), Fosfatase Alcalina (FA), Gamma Glutamiltransferase (GGT), Glicose (GLU), Globulinas, Lactato Desidrogenase (LDH), Proteinas totais (PT), Triglicérides (TG), Ureia (UR), e hemoglobina livre (HB). A hemólise foi avaliada por dois métodos diferentes e excluíram-se os valores das amostras localizados fora dos limites de HB de referência propostos quer pelo fabricante do reagente ou por estudos anteriores sobre a influência da hemólise na bioquímica de aves. Os resultados mostraram que o EDTA foi menos eficiente do que a heparina na minimização da hemólise in vitro. Encontrou-se um menor número de diferenças significativas entre amostras de soro e plasma heparinizado. Todos os valores médios de indivíduos saudáveis medidos no plasma heparinizado situaram-se nos intervalos de referência da Associação de Zoológicos e Aquários (AZA), em contraste com o soro e 11 o plasma com EDTA. Como conclusão, verificou-se que, para a metodologia adotada, apesar de algumas limitações na medição de albumina e triglicérides, o plasma heparinizado, ao contrário do plasma com EDTA, é uma amostra confiável na determinação da maioria dos analitos avaliados em pinguins-de-Magalhães de reabilitação

Orientador: Wagner André Pedro / Banca: Denise Cerqueira Rossa-Feres / Banca: Paulo De Marco Júnior / Banca: Rômulo Ribon / Banca: Luiz Dino Vizotto / Resumo: A fragmentação florestal é uma das principais ameaças a diversidade de aves sendo responsável por grande parte das extinções de espécies em florestas tropicais. Os efeitos da fragmentação florestal sobre a diversidade de espécies em remanescentes devem ser analisados em diferentes escalas com a finalidade de uma melhor interpretação de suas conseqüências sobre cada espécie ou grupo de espécies. Desta forma, este estudo procurou responder três perguntas que geraram as hipóteses de trabalho desenvolvidas em cada capítulo. 1) Quais espécies ocorrem na região noroeste do estado de São Paulo? 2) Como a paisagem do entorno dos remanescentes florestais influencia a riqueza e os grupos funcionais de aves? 3) Na escala do fragmento, como as variáveis ambientais influenciam a riqueza de espécies e a distribuição dos grupos funcionais nos remanescentes florestais? As respostas dessas perguntas seguem um gradiente de relação, de um fator regional até o local. Foram registradas 328 espécies para a região. As origens dos registros permitiram supor que os exclusivamente históricos foram de espécies que não ocorram mais localmente. Essas espécies apresentaram uma forte relação com as categorias propostas, sendo que 75% delas possuem algum tipo de dependência com o ambiente florestal, 63% estão categorizadas como ameaçadas de extinção para o estado de São Paulo e 34% pertencem a algum centro de endemismo. Na escala da paisagem, a distância adotada como paisagem de entorno e os requerimentos ecológicos de cada grupo funcional são responsáveis pelas relações com os componentes da paisagem. Na escala do fragmento, as similaridades entre os remanescentes florestais de acordo com as variáveis estruturais e os grupos funcionais nem sempre foram concordantes. As relações positivas entre o tamanho de área e porcentagem de área nuclear com a riqueza... (resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Forest fragmentation is one of the major threats to bird diversity and is responsible for most of the extinctions of species in tropical forests. The effects of forest fragmentation on the species diversity in forest remnants should be analyzed at different scales in order to a better interpretation of the consequences for each species or species groups. The presented thesis was therefore structured in three chapters that address questions which reflect these differente scales 1) Which species occur in the northwestern region of the state of São Paulo? 2) How influences the landscapes the species richness and the functional groups of birds? 3) How are species richness and distribution of functional groups in forest remnants influenced by environmental variables on the patch scale? The answers to these questions follow a gradient, of a regional to a local scale. The records of our assessment and former studies, performed in this region, include 328 species for the northwestern region, but show discrepancies in species composition between the former and the present status. Some species have thus apparently vanished regionally. We structured the records in three categories representing forest dependence, threat status, and endemism. The species that have regionally vanished show a strong relationship with the categories: 75% depend somehow on the forest habitat, 63% are categorized as endangered in the state of São Paulo, and 34% are endemic to four endemism centers. At the landscape scale, the surrounding landscape and the ecological requirements of each functional group describe the relations of bird functional groups and bird species richness to the components of the landscape. On patch scale the multivariate analysis showed that the similarities between remnants according structural variable and functional groups, sometimes disagree. The positive relationship... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

In the tradition of previous studies of threatened species, this thesis was undertaken with the aim of improving our understanding of the ecology of the White-winged Nightjar Caprimulgus candicans, and providing the information necessary to facilitate conservation efforts on its behalf. In 1998-2001, I studied a population of White-winged Nightjars at Aguará Ñu, an area of cerrado habitats within the Reserva Natural del Bosque Mbaracayù, eastern Paraguay. Over the course of three fieldwork seasons, I captured and ringed a total of 49 nightjars (34 adults and 15 young birds). Young females first bred at approximately one year old, while still in pre-definitive plumage. Young males exhibited a form of delayed plumage maturation, whereby they only attained definitive plumage following a prolonged moult spanning much of their first potential breeding season. No evidence was obtained to suggest that they succeeded in breeding while in this conspicuously intermediate state of moult. Considerable variation was noted in the plumage whiteness of definitive males, but no clear evidence was found for consistent age-related increases in white. During the breeding season, males defended small aggregated display territories, at which they conducted nuptial display flights between late August and early January. Female nightjars were responsible for all the parental care, and apparently visited male display arenas solely to obtain copulations. Chick paternity data confirmed that the study population was polygynous, with patterns of male aggregation suggestive of an exploded lek or 'landmark' mating system. Radio-telemetry studies showed that nightjars utilised home ranges of at least 20 to 40 hectares during the eight to ten months for which they were monitored. Home ranges contained a disproportionately large amount of young campo cerrado vegetation, but no forest or old campo cerrado habitats. When selecting foraging sites within their ranges, nightjars preferred younger and avoided older campo cerrado vegetation; wet grassland was utilised roughly in proportion to its availability. Observed patterns of habitat selection were potentially explained by the greater abundance of insect prey in younger habitats. When selecting daytime roost sites, nightjars preferred vegetation of intermediate age, reflecting their need for a balance between cover and ease of access. A more general analysis of patterns of sexual dimorphism within the Caprimulgidae showed that, although almost 80% of nightjar species exhibit some dimorphism of plumage whiteness, the study species was by far the most extreme case. The striking plumage of the male was partly explained by a strong positive relationship between wing white and openness of breeding habitats within the family. However, this failed to explain the complete absence of white in the female plumage, or the extent of white dimorphism shown by the species. The most likely explanation would appear to be that extreme plumage dimorphism occurred in conjunction with the evolution of polygyny and female-only care in this open-country species. The implications of these findings for the conservation of the White-winged Nightjar are highlighted, and recommendations are proposed for future work and conservation action.

The purpose of this report has been to examine reason(s) behind the return of the red kite (Milvus milvus) to Hornborgasjön (a government-protected lake situated in the southwest of Sweden). The method of the study has been mainly based on observation-data reaching back to the latter part of the 19th century and ending with the year 2018, with the emphasis on the increasing numbers of nesting red kites during the 21st century. As a part of the study, email correspondence with ornithologists, mainly from Hornborgasjön field station, was also conducted, as well as comparison with other scientific research studies on the red kite. The results indicate that the red kite was a common bird of prey in the southern part of Sweden until the mid-19th century, after which the population started to decline. The main reasons seem to be both direct and indirect persecution. As a part of this the red kite, as well as many other birds of prey, were severely affected by different kinds of biocides used in the agriculture and in the forest industry. The return of the red kite seem to be a result of three factors, firstly it became protected in the 1920th, secondly a cease of the use of the most severely effecting biocides and thirdly a conservation project that started in Skåne in the mid-1970s. As the population of red kites increased in Skåne they started to extend their population northwards and thereby made their way back to Hornborgasjön. / <p>På grund av Covid-19 hölls presentationen via zoom</p>

No description available.