Diversity of small mammals on the early second commercial cycle of Eucalyptus plantations in southeast Brazil

Abstract

In this study we surveyed small mammals on a silvicultural landscape during theearly second 7-year commercial cycle of Eucalyptus plantations in southeast Brazil. To do sowe used the same method (pitfall traps) and part of the same sampling units used by aprevious study during the early first commercial cycle. Our results suggest that Eucalyptusplantations are used as habitat by part of the original assemblage of small mammals alongtheir commercial cycles. Four new species were detected on the second cycle but three wereonly detected on the first. In both cycles Eucalyptus plantations presented smaller abundanceof small mammals than native vegetation and abandoned pastures around. Oligoryzomysnigripes (a species from the Atlantic forest) replaces O. flavescens and Calomys tener (speciesfrom Cerrado) from the first to the second commercial cycle. Species richness of thelandscape matrix tend to remain lower than the native vegetation and abandoned pastures onthe early second commercial cycle. Similarly to the first cycle, the species that use Eucalyptusplantations are not affected by the distance to the border of the conservation areas (i.e., nativevegetation and abandoned pastures). The land sharing approach of the silvicultural sector inBrazil apparently prevented a higher small mammal species local extinction in relation to a former matrix of pastures. This provides a relevant conservation value to local silviculturallandscapes due to the role of small mammals in local trophic network.