Identification of priority risk areas for avifaunal conservation in una river watershed, Ibiúna/SP

Abstract

Habitat fragmentation and populational isolation is one of the most serious biodiversity’s threats. Thus, the present study aimed to develop a methodology for the identification of biodiversity risk areas using avifauna and geoprocessing techniques. For this, the Anthropic Exposure Indicator (IEA) was generated from the Circularity Index (IC), the Edge Effect Index (IEB), besides the use of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Density of drainage and indicators of the abundance and richness of the avifauna to analyze forest fragments. The IC and IEB results showed that the fragments have, in their majority, very elongated form and moderate anthropic pressure. The avifauna inventory showed 147 species, with an abundance of 9025 individuals. Therefore, with the crossing of the variables, the risk map of the avifauna was obtained, identifying that the fragments 12 and 15 were classified as lower risk to biodiversity loss. Regarding the high risk areas, the fragments 4, 5 and 7were identified. These fragments have low vegetal quality, low biodiversity and great influence of anthropic pressure. The surroundings of these areas are composed of agricultural areas, pastures and rural buildings which can accelerate the process of biodiversity loss. The remaining forest fragments are classified as medium risk. Finally, this work allowed to classify the current situation of forest fragments in the Una River watershed, assisting public managers in the decision making and sustainable environmental planning of these fragments.