Do bird communities of neotropical monodominant forests have their own identity? The case of Eremanthus erythropappus forests

Abstract

Monodominant Eremanthus erythropappus forests are dispersed in neotropical montane regions of southeastern and northeastern Brazil, forming ecotonal areas among other high altitude phytophysiognomies, with no information from their fauna communities and how these communities vary between phytophysiognomies adjacent. We examined the bird community of three preserved and three managed E. erythropappus forests, and compared them with two other coexisting phytophysiognomies (cloud forests and montane fields) in an ecotonal region between two biodiversity hotspot domains (Cerrado and Atlantic Forest), in southeastern Brazil (1300 to 1570m high).