Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T22:54:36.015Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Impact of wildfires on the megafauna of Emas National Park, central Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Leandro Silveira
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Goiás. Departamento de Biologia Geral, CP 131, 74001-970, Goiania-GO, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]
Flávio Henrique
Affiliation:
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Departamento de Zoologia, CP 6109, 13083–970, Campinas-SP, Brazil
G. Rodrigues
Affiliation:
Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Departamento de Zoologia, CP 6109, 13083–970, Campinas-SP, Brazil
Anah Tereza de Almeida Jácomo
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Goiás. Departamento de Biologia Geral, CP 131, 74001-970, Goiania-GO, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]
José Alexandre F. Diniz Filho
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Goiás. Departamento de Biologia Geral, CP 131, 74001-970, Goiania-GO, Brazil. E-mail: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

This study evaluates the impact of two wildfires, in 1994 and 1995, on the large mammal fauna of Emas National Park, central Brazil. The 1994 fire burned 100 per cent of the park's grassland and after the fire, in a c. 2000-ha survey area, the authors found 16 giant anteaters Myrmecophaga tridactyla, two giant armadillos Priodontes maximus and one tapir Tapirus terrestris that had died in the fire. The 1995 fire burned 15 per cent of the park's grassland and no dead animals were found in a 220-ha survey area. The authors discuss the possible long-term ecological consequences of wildfires on the large mammal fauna of Emas, with a special focus on the giant anteater population, which is particularly susceptible to fires. They recommend a fire management programme, which would include controlled burns on a rotational basis in different sections of the park. The programme would also improve the availability of food for herbivores and control the spread of alien grass species.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 1999

References

Anderson, A.B. & Posey, B.A. (1991) Reflorestamento indígena. Ciência Hoje, Ediçāo Especial—Amazônia, pp. 612.Google Scholar
Bendell, J.F. (1974) Effect of fire on birds and mammals. In Fire and Ecosystems (eds Kozlowski, T. T. and Ahlgen, C. E.), pp. 73138. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boerner, R.E.J. (1982) Fire and nutrient cycling in temperate ecosystems. BioScience, 32 (3), 187192.Google Scholar
Borchert, M. & Hansen, R.L. (1983) Effects of flooding and wildfire on valley side wet campo rodents in central Brazil. Revista Brasileira de Biologia, 43 (3), 229240.Google Scholar
Brynard, A.M. (1971) Controlled burning in the Kruger National Park: history and development of a veld burning policy. In Proceedings of the 11th Annual Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference, pp. 219231. Tall Timbers Research Station, Tallahasee, USA.Google Scholar
Burnham, K.P., Anderson, D.R. & Laake, J.K. (1980) Estimation of density from line transect sampling of biological populations. Wildlife Monographs, 72, 1202.Google Scholar
Coutinho, L.M. (1980) As queimadas e seu papel ecológico. Brasil Florestal, 44, 723.Google Scholar
Coutinho, L.M. (1982) Ecological effects of fire in Brazilian cerrado. In Ecology of Tropical Savannas (eds Huntley, B. J. and Walker, B. H.), pp. 273291. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coutinho, L.M. (1990) Fire in the ecology of the Brazilian cerrado. In Fire in the Tropical Biota Ecosystem: Processes and Global Changes (ed. Goldammer, J. G.), pp 82105. Springer-Verlag, Berlin.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drumond, M.A. (1992) Padrões de forrageamento do tamandud bandeira (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) no Parque Nacional da Serra da Canastra: dieta, comportamento alimentar e efeito de queimadas. MSc thesis, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil.Google Scholar
Eiten, G. (1972) The cerrado vegetation of Brazil. Botanical Review, 38, 201341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eiten, G. (1990) Cerrado-Vegetacao. In Cerrado, Caracterização, Ocupação e Perspectivas (ed. Pinto, M. N.), pp. 965. Editora Universidade de Brasília, Distrito Federal.Google Scholar
Erize, F. (1977) Brazil's finest national park. Oryx, 13, 457462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Figueiredo, S.V. (1991) Efeito de fogo sobre o comportamento e sobre a estrutura da avifauna de cerrado. MSc thesis, Universidade de Brasília, Departamento de Ecologia, Brazil.Google Scholar
Fonseca, G.A.B., Rylands, A.B., Costa, C.M.R., Machado, R.B. & Leite, Y.L.R. (1994) Livro Vermelho dos Mamíferos Brasileiros Ameaçados de Extinção. Fundação Biodiversitas, Belo Horizonte, MG.Google Scholar
Friend, G.R. (1993) Impact of fire on small vertebrates in mallee woodlands and heathlands of temperate Australia: a review. Biological Conservation, 65, 99114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
IBDF/FBCN (1981) Piano de Manejo: Parque Nacional das Emas. Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renovaveis, Brasilia.Google Scholar
IUCN (1996) 1996 IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Laake, J.L., Buckland, S.T., Anderson, D.A. & Burnham, K.P. (1993) Distance User's Guide V2.0. Colorado CooperativeFish and Wildlife Research Unit, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.Google Scholar
McNab, B.K. (1984) Physiological convergence among ant-eating and termite-eating mammals. Journal of Zoology, London, 203 (4), 485510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ramos-Neto, M.B. & Pinheiro-Machado, C. (1996) O capim-flecha (Tristachya leiostachya Ness) e sua importância na dinâmica do fogo no Parque Nacional das Emas. In lmpacto de Queimadas em áreas de Cerrado e Restinga (eds Miranda, H. S., Saito, C. H. and Dias, B. F. S.), pp. 6875. Editora Universidade de Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil.Google Scholar
Redford, K.H. (1985) ENP and the plight of the Brazilian cerrados. Oryx, 19 (4), 210214.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ribeiro, M.B. (1994) Paleovegetaçāo e paleoclima no quartenário tardio da Vereda de Águas Emendadas-DF. MSc thesis, Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Geociências, Brasília.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, F.H.G. (1996a) História natural e biología comportamental do veado-campeiro (Ozotoceros bezoarticus) em cerrado do Brasil central. MSc thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Sāo Paulo, Brazil.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, F.H.G. (1996b) Influência do fogo e da seca na disponibilidade de alimento para herbívoros do cerrado. In Impacto de Queimadas em Áreas de Cerrado e Restinga (eds Miranda, H. S., Saito, C. H. and Dias, B. F. S.), pp. 7583. Editora Universidade de Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil.Google Scholar
Rosa, C.M.M. (1990) Recuperaçāo pós-fogo do estrato rasteiro de um campo sujo de cerrado. MSc thesis, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil.Google Scholar
Sanaiotti, T.M. & Magnusson, W.E. (1995) Effects of annual fires on the production of fleshy fruits eaten by birds in a Brazilian Amazonian savanna. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 11, 5365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schaller, G. (1976) Note on the Large Mammals of Parque Nacional das Emas, Brazil. Report to Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renováveis, Brasilia.Google Scholar
Shaw, J.H., Machado-Neto, J. & Carter, T.C. (1987) Behavior of free-living giant anteaters (Nlyrmecophaga tridactyla). Biotropica, 19 (3), 255259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vieira, E.M. (1994) Efeito do fogo em comunidades de pequenos mamiferos de cerrado do Brasil Central. MSc thesis, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.Google Scholar
Warming, E. & Ferri, M.G. (1973) Lagoa Santa e a Vegetaçao de Cerrados Brasileiros. Universidade de Sāo Paulo, Sāo Paulo, Brazil.Google Scholar