Bird and mammal frugivores of Euterpe edulis at Santa Catarina island monitored by camera traps

Abstract

From July to October 2009, the frugivorous fauna associated with palmito palms (Euterpe edulis) was studied to identify possible seed dispersers in Atlantic forest remnants on Santa Catarina Island, southern Brazil. The animals approaching or feeding on fruits were recorded by camera traps directed towards infructescences bearing ripe fruits and towards fruit patches on the ground. In a total sampling effort of 165 trap-days, 48 feeding events were recorded. Three birds, the Channel-billed Toucan (Ramphastos vitellinus), Speckled Chachalaca (Ortalis guttata) and White-necked Thrush (Turdus albicollis), and four mammal species, the coati (Nasua nasua), russet rice rat (Euryoryzomys russatus), South American water rat (Nectomys squamipes) and the tayra (Eira barbara) were identified. The highest number of feeding events was recorded for O. guttata, followed by R. vitellinus and E. russatus. Although the number of detected species was low, seed dispersal of E. edulis fruits on Santa Catarina Island is likely still performed by birds and small mammals.

Keywords:

• Atlantic rainforest
• camera traps
• Euterpe edulis
• frugivores
• seed dispersal

Acknowledgments

We thank Márcia Manfredini, Livia Dorneles, Rafael Kamke, Alfredo Kock, Wilson Gonzalez and Daniel Lira for their help in the field, Elsimar Silveira and Cid Rodrigo for help identifying the birds, Mauricio Graipel for help identifying the rodents, Pedro Faria Gonçalves for access to the private property, and Wolf Engels and two anonymous reviewers for valuable comments. This study was part of the projects: “Internal Dynamics in Rain Forests: Specificity of Relations between Bromeliads and Associated Fauna” and “Importância das bromélias para a manutenção da diversidade da fauna associada na Mata Atlântica” within the Brazilian-German program “Mata Atlântica” funded by BMBF, Germany (01LB0205A1) and CNPq, Brazil (590040/2006-5).