Diversidade de aves noturnas na caatinga no estado de Pernambuco, Brasil

Abstract

Birds have an important ecological role, acting as bioindicators of environmental quality, among other aspects. Currently, the Brazilian avifauna is home to 1.971 species, of which about 510 are found in the Caatinga domain and 23 are endemic. In the Caatinga, no studies were found exclusively focused on the diversity of nocturnal birds in this phytogeographic region, and this is the first research of this nature. In this context, the present work aimed to determine the diversity of nocturnal birds in two areas of caatinga in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil: in the Mata da Pimenteira State Park (PEMP), Serra Talhada -PE and in the Sítio Várzea Grande (SITIO), Calumbi – PE. Nocturnal samplings were carried out from April 2019 to December 2021, proceeding to record the species through spontaneous recordings of the birds' vocalization. In addition, the effect of lunar illumination, temperature, precipitation, cloud cover and wind on the detectability of birds' vocalization was evaluated. The diversity of species was obtained through the Shannon Diversity Index (H') and the effectiveness in the collections was analyzed through the rarefaction curve. The richness of eight species of nocturnal birds was found in the evaluated areas, belonging to the Strigiformes, Nyctibiiformes and Caprimulgiformes orders. Of these, six were present at PMPE and seven at SITIO. Also noteworthy is the first occurrence of Aegolius harrisii, for the Caatinga domain, thus expanding the distribution of the species. It was also observed that precipitation presented a positive correlation with detectability, however, no significant differences were found in the correlation tests in relation to the other variables analyzed. Due to this controversy, more studies between nocturnal bird communities and exogenous factors should be done, in order to better understand the biology of nocturnal birds in the Neotropical region.