Non-volant mammals (Mammalia) from Estação Ecológica Serra Geral do Tocantins

Abstract

The terrestrial mammal community was surveyed along three distinct localities (1-Mateiros, TO; 2- Rio da Conceição, TO e 3- Formosa do Rio Preto, BA) in the Estação Ecológica Serra Geral do Tocantins. The small non-volant mammals were recorded by the use of conventional live traps (5,396 trap.nights) and pitfall traps (5,300 trap.nights) in the different physiognomies found, such as: "campo úmido", "campo limpo", "campo sujo", "campo cerrado", "cerrado sensu stricto", "cerrado sensu stricto with rocks", gallery forest and wet gallery forest. The large mammals were casually registered by visual or indirect evidences (tracks, feces, carcasses). We recorded 24 small non-volant mammals and 17 large mammals, totalizing 41 species for this region. The small mammal community was characterized by several rare and intermediate in abundance species, and few species very abundant. Rodents from the family Cricetidae dominated both in number of species (14) as in number of individuals (50% of the community). The species segregated among the forested and open formations, showing the great habitat selectivity and the importance to survey the habitat mosaic to characterize the diversity of this mammal group. The small non-volant mammal fauna surveyed showed some overlap with the fauna from the Caatinga and Amazon biomes, demonstrating the importance of these biomes in the faunal composition of the communities localized in the northern portion of the Cerrado. In addition, we also recorded endemic species and species with a restricted distribution to this north portion, characterizing a distinct community within the Cerrado. The large mammal community was characterized by a high number of threatened species (10), increasing the importance of this region in preserving the fauna of the northern portion of the Cerrado.