The relevance of graduate teachings in the formation of human resources for biodiversity studies in Brazil: a case study in ornithology

Abstract

Between 1970 and 2005, 397 master’s thesis and 108 PhD dissertations with ornithological themes were recorded from 43 Brazilian institutions. Most of these studies were produced in research institutions in Southwestern Brazil. Institutions in the North and Northeastern regions contributed with a relatively low number of ornithological studies. Avifauna was best studied from Coastal and Marine biomes, Atlantic Forest and Cerrado, while research on birds in Caatinga and Amazonia was relatively scarce. Since 1990, were observed a significant increase in scientific production of ornithological studies in graduate courses. The thematic diversity of the courses also increased, but ornithological research in graduate courses is still dominated by community, behavior and synecological studies. Emergent research programs such as molecular systematics, macroecology and landscape ecology have been recently explored in graduate courses in Brazilian institutions. Increasing graduate programs and continuing the thematic diversification of ornithological studies are the challenges that will be faced by Brazilian graduate programs in the next coming years.