Temporal dynamics of small mammals in Eucalyptus plantations in Southeast Brazil

Abstract

The presence of small terrestrial mammals along the commercial cycle of Eucalyptus plantations indicates that silvicultural landscapes can be considered as their habitat. In the present study we evaluated the temporal variation of small terrestrial mammals for more than 10 generations during the first commercial cycle of Eucalyptus in Southeast Brazil. During this period we carried out forty-four monthly campaigns, totaling 10,560 bucket.nights in pitfall traps. Thirteen species (four marsupials and nine rodents) were collected in the Eucalyptus plantations, seven of which (Akodon montensis, Calomys tener, Cryptonanus agricolai, Gracilinanus microtarsus, Necromys lasiurus, Oligoryzomys flavescens, and Oligoryzomys nigripes) persisted for the entire study period. In general, they have an explosive population growth during the first two years of collection followed by a decline in all environments, and an apparent regrowth trend in the fourth year for some species with a trend in dominant species from Cerrado to forest dwellers. Marsupials exhibited a similar trend, but slower and later. The spatio-temporal patterns of variation detected in this study strongly suggest that for most of the remaining species of small rodents and marsupials, silvicultural landscapes have distinct habitats including the Eucalyptus plantations. This means that they should be evaluated in terms of its habitat quality not only its permeability. The perception of the Eucalyptus plantations as habitat should stimulate the development of wildlife-friendly management techniques, which improve their carrying capacity, food web complexity and biological diversity without compromising their primeval mission of biological production.