Efeitos do manejo do açaí (Euterpe oleracea Mart.) sobre a avifauna em florestas de várzea estuarina na Amazônia

Abstract

Human actions and use of natural resources, by removing plant species, food resources or altering the environment’s structure, may have indirect effects on animal communities. The expansion of açaí (Euterpe oleracea) production has been altering floodplain forests through its management actions, resulting in environmental degradation and even substitution of forest for plantation areas, thus causing floristic empoverishment. In this paper we investigate the effects of this species management on the structure of bird community in an insular system of the Amazon River delta. Our hypothesis was that we would find less bird species diversity on managed areas (low and high intensity management) compared to non-managed forest fragments due to the environmental degradation caused by this practice. To assess the diversity and abundance of bird species we conducted point counts with auditory recordings and observations in three sites per treatment. We found a decrease tendency in bird species richness in intensively managed areas; but didn’t detect any changes on bird abundance and diversity in areas managed for açaí fruit production. We found alterations on bird community composition, being this more homogenous in managed areas. The effects of açaí management upon the fauna are still hard to detect but may arise in the future and our results point to the homogenization and species loss in areas subjected to intense management, causing birdlife empoverishment.