Browsing by Author "Deborah Faria"

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    Bat and bird assemblages from forests and shade cacao plantations in two contrasting landscapes in the Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil
    (Springer, 2006) Deborah Faria; Rudi Ricardo Laps; Julio Baumgarten; Mauri Cio Cetra
    In the core region of Brazilian cocoa production, shade cacao plantations (so-called cabrucas) are important components of regional landscapes, constituting potential habitat for a vast array of the regional biota. This research focuses on the ability of cabrucas to harbor bird and bat species in two nearby districts – Una and Ilhe us – with contrasting landscapes. At Una, cabrucas represent less than 6% of the land and are surrounded by large tracts of forest, whereas at Ilheus these shade plantations are the landscapes dominant feature. Bird and bat communities were richer in cabrucas located in Una compared to nearby forest, while cabrucas from the Ilheus landscape were significantly poorer in species than nearby forest fragments. However, bird assemblages in cabrucas were characterized by the loss of understory specialists and the increase of more open area and generalist species, whereas forest dwellers still comprised most of the bat species reported in cabrucas. Species richness and composition differed between the two landscapes. Forest fragments and cabrucas from Ilheus harbored fewer forest-dwelling species than similar habitats in Una. Our study shows that cabrucas support high species richness of birds and bats from the native assemblages but are no surrogates for intact forests, since the presence and representativeness of some forest species apparently depends on the existence of nearby forests. A landscape dominated by cabrucas with a minor portion of native forest is unlikely to ensure longterm conservation of many target species, particularly those of major conservation concern.
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    Landscape and farm scale management to enhance biodiversity conservation in the cocoa producing region of southern Bahia, Brazil
    (2009) Camila R. Cassano; Deborah Faria; Gotz Schroth; Lucio Bede; Jacques H.C. Delabie
    In southern Bahia, Brazil, large land areas are used for the production of cocoa (Theobroma cacao), which is predominantly grown under the shade of native trees in an agroforestry system locally known as cabruca. As a dominant forest-like landscape element of the cocoa region, the cabrucas play an important role in the conservation of the region’s biodiversity. The purpose of this review is to provide the scientific basis for an action plan to reconcile cocoa production and biodiversity conservation in southern Bahia. The available research collectively highlights the diversity of responses of different species and biological groups to both the habitat quality of the cabrucas themselves and to the general characteristics of the landscape, such as the relative extent and spatial configuration of different vegetation types within the landscape mosaic. We identify factors that influence directly or indirectly the occurrence of native species in the cabrucas and the wider landscape of the cocoa region and develop recommendations for their conservation management. We show that the current scientific knowledge already provides a good basis for a biodiversity friendly management of the cocoa region of southern Bahia, although more work is needed to refine some management recommendations, especially on shade canopy composition and density, and verify their economic viability. The implementation of our recommendations should be accompanied by appropriate biological and socioeconomic monitoring and the findings should inform a broad program of adaptive management of the cabrucas and the wider cocoa landscape