Spatial distribution and trophic structure of bird’s communities of Atlantic Forest fragments in Brazil

We analyzed the differences in composition, richness, and abundance of birds in forest fragments of the Atlantic Forest in the São Paulo State, Brazil, and we demonstrated the variations in richness and abundance of birds between different trophic guilds. We used point counts to characterize the avifauna. Sampling was conducted in two seasons: summer and winter of 2020 in a total of 18 hours distributed in 54 samples. A total of 544 contacts were obtained, belonging to 144 bird species distributed among 22 orders and 45 families and categorized in 18 trophic guilds. The omnivores and insectivores birds composed most of the community, occupying the edge and different strata of the forest such as canopy and understory. For each species, we calculated the abundance index value that showed our study site had a large number of species with low index and few species with intermediate to high index compared to the pattern observed in other surveys. Our study area was characterized by high species diversity for both periods studied. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index for our study areas was 4.62. Equitability was high, 0.92, suggesting the number of species registered in our study site represented the maximum capacity the areas can shelter. Our results show that despite being a secondary and fragmented forest the study area was characterized by a diverse avian community. Although the anthropized forest environments are fragmented and isolated by degraded areas and occupied by pastures, agricultural and urban areas, they are important natural environments to maintain bird diversity.