In our ‘Area Diaries’ collection, The Utilized Ecologist is sharing tales from a spread of various fieldwork experiences. Mariana Silva Ferreira shares being concerned within the largest long-term monitoring examine on small mammals based mostly in Brazil.
Concerning the Writer
Mariana Silva Ferreira, she/her
Affiliation:
- Affiliate Researcher, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Federal College of Rio de Janeiro), Brazil
- Auxiliar Professor, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (Federal State College of Rio de Janeiro), Brazil
Ecology pursuits:
Inhabitants ecology, life histories, mammals
Overview of fieldwork
For over 10 years, I used to be a part of the group on the Vertebrate Laboratory of the Federal College of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), which collected information on populations of small mammals (marsupials and rodents) within the Serra dos Órgãos Nationwide Park, a protected space of the Atlantic Forest positioned roughly two hours from town of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That is the most important long-term, uninterrupted examine of small mammal monitoring in tropical forests in South America, which started in 1997 and led to 2019, finishing 22 years. I started engaged on the mission in 2006, the week after I began my undergraduate internship on the laboratory. It was my first fieldwork and I fell in love with it. Internships throughout undergraduate research are a really attention-grabbing observe that we have now adopted in Brazil. College students develop their very own scientific analysis and plenty of accumulate their very own information, as I did. The work consisted of capturing the animals in reside traps, tagging them with ear tags and acquiring bionomic measurements, corresponding to weight, dimension and indicators of reproductive exercise. The animals had been then launched, and we returned the following day to do the identical process. In whole, there have been 5 nights of fieldwork, each two months, six occasions a 12 months. This routine was a part of my undergraduate, grasp’s and doctoral research.
However past the work, fieldwork brings us distinctive recollections. My finest pals are the individuals who spent hours within the forest capturing possums, getting moist within the rain or excessive warmth, consuming tuna paste sandwiches and bathing in waterfalls. We nonetheless chuckle lots concerning the tales and keep in mind particular animals, such because the possum quantity TDI 2571/3306, which offered us with numerous reproductive information (we captured this feminine with 5 litters over greater than two years).
I just lately learn an article concerning the extinction of expertise amongst ecologists. This worries me, as a result of I realized lots throughout my fieldwork. This consists of every part from reside with completely different folks to arrange fieldwork, from logistics to reporting to funding businesses, in addition to observing the behaviour and peculiarities of every animal. You probably have the chance, do fieldwork or search out volunteer work. You received’t remorse it.
Why is that this an essential mission?
This long-term examine is crucial for understanding inhabitants dynamics in tropical forests. Regardless of the rise in information about these distinctive ecosystems and species in current a long time, there are few long-term research that enable us to evaluate inhabitants progress or decline, and the elements chargeable for this variation. Our publications show that, even in one of the crucial biodiverse ecosystems on the planet, small mammal populations self-regulate, that’s, among the many a number of doable interactions, competitors for a limiting useful resource is an important.
As well as, the 22 years of examine allowed greater than 100 folks to take part immediately or not directly within the group and assortment of knowledge, both by creating their theses and dissertations, or by way of volunteering. Thus far, 5 doctoral theses, 21 grasp’s dissertations and 39 undergraduate analysis tasks have been carried out with this information.
We’re at the moment searching for to grasp the impacts of local weather change on the ecosystem and these species. On this means, we will assess how adjustments in precipitation and temperature over twenty years have affected the populations of small mammals. This info is essential to foster conservation and administration actions on this biodiversity hotspot.
The place can we discover extra info?
Extra details about this long-term examine may be discovered on the hyperlinks beneath:
- Particular subject: Oecologia Australis: Garrafão: 22 Years of the Longest Small Mammal Monitoring Examine in Brazil https://revistas.ufrj.br/index.php/oa/subject/view/2573
- Instagram: Vertebrate Laboratory (Laboratório de Vertebrados) of the Federal College of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) https://www.instagram.com/labvert_ufrj/
- Papers:
- Ferreira, M. S., Vieira, M. V., Cerqueira, R., & Dickman, C. R. (2016). Seasonal dynamics with compensatory results regulate populations of tropical forest marsupials: a 16-year examine. Oecologia, 182, 1095-1106. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-016-3735-x
- Ferreira, M. S., Kajin, M., Cerqueira, R., & Vieira, M. V. (2016). Marsupial inhabitants dynamics in a tropical rainforest: intraspecific competitors and nonlinear impact of rainfall. Journal of Mammalogy, 97(1), 121-127. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyv161
- Ferreira, M. S., Cerqueira, R., & Vieira, M. V. (2020). What are the principle drivers of survival and recruitment in tropical forest marsupials? A 16-year examine. Journal of mammalogy, 101(2), 515-525. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmammal/gyaa013
- da Cunha, L., Ferreira, M. S., Cerqueira, R., & Namen, A. A. (2023). The impact of long-term climatic variability on wild mammal populations in a tropical forest hotspot: A enterprise intelligence framework. Ecological Informatics, 73, 101924. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2022.101924
- da Silva, R. C., Vieira, M. V., Cerqueira, R., & Ferreira, M. S. (2023). Timing of delivery determines lifetime survival in a Neotropical marsupial. Mammalian Biology, 103(3), 255-264. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-023-00352-9
Uncover extra posts from our Fieldwork Diaries weblog collection right here.
