Knowledge about mammals of the Atlantic Forest is still lacking, especially because some places remain poorly studied or inventoried, which makes conservation initiatives difficult. We aimed to determine the species richness and composition of medium and large sized mammals in a semideciduous forest remnant, Morro do Coco, thus contributing information about the occurrence of mammalian fauna in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. The methods consisted of interviews with local inhabitants, visual records and sand plot analysis. The study took place from July 2008 to April 2009, with monthly expeditions of three days. Sixteen species of mammals were recorded, seven of which are threatened with extinction in Rio Grande do Sul and one nationally. The predominant trophic group was the frugivorous/herbivorous. The study area is situated in a prioritized zone for the conservation of mammals in Greater Porto Alegre, since it consists of one of the last remnants where the phytophysionomies that originally occupied the edge of Guaiba Lake and granite hills of the region are represented and preserved.

Wasps, important agents for the control of insect population, have been scantily studied in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul. Current study investigates monthly variations of social wasps in microhabitats within a forest-agriculture mosaic. Samples were collected between February 2013 and February 2014, through active search and baited traps made from 2 L transparent PET bottles, in five microhabitats, namely, forest, monoculture, polyculture and the edges between the forest fragment and monoculture and polyculture, in the municipality of Doutor Maurício Cardoso. Statistical tests, similarity indices, dominance and constancy as well as PCoA were used for data analysis to group the collection. A total of 953 specimens were collected, distributed across 15 species and seven genera. Abundance differed between microhabitats and the monoculture cultivation was least similar to the other microhabitats. PCoA identified three different groups. Abundance was positively correlated with temperature, negatively correlated with air humidity and was not correlated with wind velocity. Social wasps are able to utilize resources outside the forest fragments, but monocultures may create barriers for their dispersal.

Euterpe edulis Martius (Arecaceae) é considerada uma das palmeiras mais importantes para a fauna dispersora e polinizadora na Mata Atlântica. Contudo, a exploração predatória do palmito vem causando seu declínio e extinção ao longo da Mata Atlântica. O objetivo deste estudo foi identificar as interações entre mamíferos e aves com E. edulis Mart., bem como contribuir para a compreensão dos processos ecológicos de dispersão e germinação de sementes. O estudo foi realizado no município de Maquiné, RS, em área de Floresta Ombrófila Densa pertencente à Fundação Estadual de Pesquisa Agropecuária (FEPAGRO). Mamíferos e aves foram registrados por meio da utilização de seis armadilhas de filmagem, observação focal (árvore-focal) e transecções. Experimentos de germinação foram também realizados e as diferenças encontradas foram testadas por meio do programa Biostat 5.3. Doze meses de estudo resultaram em mais de 1300 vídeos com um esforço amostral de 334 armadilhas-dia. Em 1180 vídeos, a fauna interagiu diretamente com os frutos de E. edulis, totalizando 1245 interações. Em 38% destas houve consumo dos frutos, os quais foram carregados em 37% desses registros e em 25%, engolidos. No total, foram registradas 17 espécies, 12 de aves e cinco de mamíferos. Destes, os pequenos roedores foram os que mais consumiram ou carregaram os frutos (N=616 ou 65%). Das aves, quatro espécies de Turdus consumiram, engoliram ou carregaram 322 frutos (33%). O percentual e/ou a velocidade de germinação foram significativamente maiores em sementes regurgitadas ou despolpadas pela fauna do que em sementes extraídas diretamente da planta. Grandes frugívoros foram eventualmente registrados, sugerindo um quadro de defaunação na área de estudo. O número de interações constatadas, contudo, confirma a importância ecológica de E. edulis para a manutenção da guilda de frugívoros com ocorrência na localidade.

ABSTRACT. Didelphis albiventris Lund, 1840 is one of the least known Brazilian marsupials with respect to its feeding habits. Since the white-eared opossum is omnivorous, it occupies several niches and may be found in urban areas as well as in forest fragments. Current analysis aimed at determining and comparing the diet of D. albiventris in two periurban areas of the municipality of Viamão, a conserved forest remnant and a degraded area resulting from agricultural activities. Captures of D. albiventris were carried out for a period of 30 months by a sampling effort of 504 trap-nights. Forty fecal samples were collected from 45 captures corresponding to 18 specimens. Diet was determined by fecal analysis. Fruit was the most representative item, at an occurrence of 77.5%, comprising six species of plants, followed by invertebrates (62.5%) and vertebrates (37.5%). Didelphis albiventris displayed a frugivorous-omnivorous habit, with no difference between the sexes with respect to composition and frequency of the items consumed. Since there was a greater diversity of food items and fruits in the more conserved area, seasonal variations in the diet could be detected. Generalist species, such as D. albiventris, may have an important role in the recovery of degraded areas through the dispersal of seeds of species of initial successional stages.Keywords: white-eared opossum, feeding habits, frugivory, Atlantic Forest. Dieta de Didelphis albiventrisLund, 1840 (Didelphimorphia, Didelphidae) em duas áreas periurbanas no Sul do Brasil RESUMO. Didelphis albiventris Lund, 1840 é um dos marsupiais brasileiros menos conhecidos quanto aos hábitos alimentares. De hábito onívoro, ocupa uma variedade de nichos, sendo encontrado tanto em áreas urbanas quanto em fragmentos florestais. Teve-se como objetivo conhecer e comparar a dieta de D. albiventris em duas áreas periurbanas do município de Viamão: um remanescente florestal conservado e uma área degradada por atividades agropastoris. Foram efetuadas capturas de D. albiventris durante um período de 30 meses, resultando em um esforço amostral de 504 armadilhas-noite. Foram coletadas 40 amostras de fezes decorrentes de 45 capturas correspondentes a 18 indivíduos. A dieta foi determinada através de análise fecal. Com ocorrência de 77,5%, os frutos foram o item mais representativo, compreendendo seis espécies de plantas, seguido de invertebrados, com 62,5%, e vertebrados, com 37,5%. Didelphis albiventris apresentou hábito frugívoro-onívoro, não havendo diferença entre os sexos quanto à composição e frequência dos itens consumidos. Na área mais conservada, obteve-se a mais alta diversidade de itens alimentares e de frutos, encontrando-se variações sazonais na dieta. Espécies generalistas, tais como D. albiventris, podem desempenhar importante papel na recuperação de áreas degradadas, efetuando a dispersão de sementes de espécies de estádios sucessionais iniciais.Palavras-chave: gambá-de-orelha-branca, hábitos alimentares, frugivoria, domínio da Mata Atlântica.

Calomys tener is a widely distributed species in Brazil. Herein we report the second record of C. tener in state of Rio Grande do Sul about 80 km northwestwards from the previous southernmost known limit in Brazil. A fragment of 890 bp of Cytochrome b gene (cyt b) from MCN -MAM 42 was sequenced and the sequence identity was first investigated by using BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Tool) (Altschul et al. 1990) in order to observe its similarity levels with other sequences deposited in the GenBank. We also performed a Neighbor-Joining (NJ) analysis in MEGA5 (Tamura et al. 2011), which included the cyt b sequence from one specimen here surveyed and specimens from other 10 recognized species of Calomys generated in the studies of Salazar-Bravo et al. (2001;2002) and Almeida et al. (2007), obtained from GenBank ( Figure 4; Appendix 1). The specimen here surveyed grouped with the specimen of C. tener from Goiás, Central Brazil (Almeida et al. 2007) with a high level of bootstrap support (100%). The new cyt b sequence was deposited in GenBank (access number: JX975467). Kimura 2-parameter (K2P) evolutionary distances between Banhado Grande specimen and sequences from the specimens utilized in NJ analysis are shown in Table 1. Cranial measurements (Table 2) were within the range presented by Bonvicino et al. (2003) for C. tener, except by the length of diastema (LD) and breadth of rostrum (BRO). The specimen presented tawny dorsal pelage, lighter on the face; the venter was lighter, but hairs gray-based and with color limits with dorsum less conspicuous when compared to sympatric C. laucha. White hairs behind ears also distinguished these two species in the region, being a conspicuous characteristic in C. laucha and less conspicuous in C. tener. This is the second record of Calomys tener for the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Although it not extends its distribution, we confirm the presence of this species in a region approximately 80 km northwestwards from the locality of Quintão, the previous southernmost known limit in Rio Grande do Sul years of small mammal surveys conducted in different physiognomies of the state (e.g. Cademartori et al. 2002; 2004; Dalmagro and Vieira 2005;Iob and Vieira 2008;Quintela et al. 2012;Sponchiado et al. 2012) and the record in only two localities until now (Haag et al. 2007 and this study). Calomys laucha, on the other hand, seems to be a common species in southern coastal dune systems (e.g. Camargo et al. 2006; Haag et al. 2007;Quintela et al. 2013), with one record that may represents its northernmost limit of distribution in a shrubby area in the north region of the state (Badzinski et al. 2012). Since this is the first record of sympatry between these two morphologically similar species in the genus, the real distribution limits MCN-MAM 42