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Rocha, E.C.; Silva, E.; Martins, S.V.; Cardoso Barreto, F.C.
Evaluaci¢n estacional de la riqueza y abundancia de especies de mam¡feros en la Reserva Biol¢gica Municipal "Mario Viana", Mato Grosso, Brasil
2006  Revista de Biologia Tropical (54): 879-888

We evaluated seasonal species presence and richness, and abundance of medium and large sized mammalian terrestrial fauna in the "M rio Viana" Municipal Biological Reserve, Nova Xavantina, Mato Grosso, Brazil. During 2001, two monthly visits were made to an established transect, 2 820 m in length. Records of 22 mammal species were obtained and individual footprint sequences quantified for seasonal calculation of species richness and relative abundance index (x footprints/km traveled). All 22 species occurred during the rainy season, but only 18 during the dry season. _Pseudalopex vetulus _(Lund, 1842) (hoary fox), _Eira barbara _(Linnaeus, 1758) (tayra), _Puma concolor _(Linnaeus, 1771) (cougar) and _Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris _(Linnaeus, 1766) (capybara) were only registered during the rainy season. The species diversity estimated using the Jackknife procedure in the dry season (19.83, CI= 2.73) was smaller than in the rainy season (25.67, CI= 3.43). Among the 18 species common in the two seasons, only four presented significantly different abundance indexes: _Dasypus novemcinctus _Linnaeus, 1758 (nine-banded armadillo), _Euphractus sexcinctus _(Linnaeus, 1758) (six-banded armadillo), _Dasyprocta azarae _Lichtenstein, 1823 (Azara's Agouti) and _Tapirus terrestris _(Linnaeus, 1758) (tapir). On the other hand, _Priodontes maximus _(Kerr, 1792) (giant armadillo) and _Leopardus pardalis _(Linnaeus, 1758) (ocelot) had identical abundance index over the two seasons. Distribution of species abundance in the sampled area followed the expected pattern for communities in equilibrium, especially in the rainy season, suggesting that the environment still maintains good characteristics for mammal conservation. The present study shows that the reserve, although only 470 ha in size, plays an important role for conservation of mastofauna of the area as a refuge in an environment full of anthropic influence (mainly cattle breeding in exotic pasture).

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