Activity pattern of Atlantic Forest small arboreal mammals as revealed by camera traps

Abstract

Even though the great majority of the biomass and diversity of mammals in tropical forests inhabit the canopy (Eisenberg & Thorington 1973), most knowledge of this group is based on forest-floor samples (Lowman & Moffett 1993). Studies that include trapping efforts in the canopy are becoming increasingly common (Grelle 2003, Lambert et al . 2005, Malcolm 1995, Patton et al . 2000, Vieira & Monteiro-Filho 2003, Voss et al . 2001), but aspects on the ecology of arboreal small mammals still remain poorly understood. Many species of non-flying mammals co-occur in the canopy and, thus, are expected to use niche dimensions differently to permit coexistence (Cameron et al . 1979). Despite the difficulties of access to and in understanding the three-dimensional use of the arboreal strata by the different species (Emmons 1995), some studies have demonstrated that the differential use of the habitat (Cunha & Vieira 2002, Gentile & Fernandez 1999), of food items (Cáceres et al . 2002, Santori et al . 1995) or both (Leite et al . 1996, Mauffrey & Catzeflis 2003), include strategies involved in the division of resources.