2003. Folivory in the whitetipped plantcutter Phytotoma rutila: seasonal variations in diet composition and quality. -J. Avian Biol. 34: 217-223.Plantcutters (Phytotomidae) represent the only Passeriformes with a predominantly folivorous diet. Little is known however about their feeding habits and adaptations for leaf consumption. Here we analyze the relationship between diet composition and nutritional value in the white-tipped plantcutter Phytotoma rutila in a Chaco woodland in Có rdoba, Argentina. The white-tipped plantcutter consumed mainly dicot leaves (91%), complemented with a small proportion of fruits (7%) and flowers (2%). Eleven plant species were utilized, of which five were strongly dominant: Lycium cestroides (38%), Prosopis alba and P. nigra (28%), Celtis tala (22%), and Schinus longifolius (8%). No animal food was consumed. The leaf material ingested by the white-tipped plantcutter had high protein content and low proportion of fibers and phenols. In multivariate analysis, leaf chemical properties accounted for over 81% of the variation in diet composition throughout the year. However, only protein and phenols content related significantly with diet composition in single regressions. The quality index that relates protein with lignin and phenols showed the highest correlation with diet composition. Availability of highly nutritive leaves of Lycium cestroides during the dry season seems to be a key factor for the occurrence of the white-tipped plantcutter in the study area. Our results confirm that plantcutters are truly folivorous passerine species, being able to obtain a highly nutritional diet throughout the year.

ResumenEl Chaco -hábitat reproductivo de aves migratorias-tiene mayor prioridad de conservación en Sudamérica. Su estacionalidad hídrica típica influye en la disponibilidad de recursos, así como en la composición y organización de avifauna. Sobre éstas inciden la fragmentación y reemplazo del bosque por expansión agrícola. Esta contribución proporciona la composición y riqueza de avifauna en remanentes del Chaco Oriental de Córdoba y realiza observaciones ecológicas sobre gremios tróficos, estatus de residencia y estado poblacional, a fin de interpretar su situación actual y promover su conservación. Dichos relictos se ubican entre la Reserva de Mar Chiquita y las Sierras del Norte, alternando con bosque secundario, parque y pastizales producidos por tala, y con parcelas cultivadas. Entre invierno de 2000 y otoño de 2002 se relevaron estacionalmente las aves en puntos fijos distribuidos al azar. Se detallaron: ubicación sistemática, nombre vulgar, estado poblacional, estatus de residencia y gremio trófico. Se hallaron un número elevado de especies (127) y entidades interesantes: amenazada (Harpyhaliaetus coronatus), en recuperación (Ortalis canicollis), acuáticas y "plagas agrícolas", acorde con la variedad de fisonomías y condiciones ecosistémicas del área. Las especies permanentes fueron mayoría expresándose su adaptación al bosque en la diversidad alimentaria. Las alteraciones del hábitat provocaron un cambio de 24% de especies antiguas permanentes, a ocasionales. Las migrantes estivales -coherentemente con la disponibilidad de recursos-triplicaron las invernales. Del gremio insectívoro participaron especies permanentes, migrantes y ocasionales, acorde a provisión de insectos en bosque subtropical semiárido. La biodiversidad remanente de aves chaqueñas aconseja su conservación. Palabras clave: Chaco, Bosque relictual, Avifauna, Composición, situación y características funcionales AbstractThe Chaco -reproductive habitat of migratory birds -has a great conservation priority in South America. Its typical seasonality influences the availability of resources, and the composition and organization of avifauna. Fragmentation and substitution of the forest for agricultural expansions, impact on these characteristics. This contribution provides the composition and richness of avifauna in relicts of the Oriental Chaco of Córdoba, and carries out ecological observations on trophic guilds, residence and conservation status, in order to interpret its current situation and to promote conservation. These forest remnants located between the Reserve of Mar Chiquita and Sierras del Norte, alternate with secondary forest, park and grassland, and cultivated parcels. From the 2000 winter to the 2002 autumn birds were observed seasonally in fixed points distributed at random. Characteristics detailed were: systematic classification, common name, population state, residence status and trophic guild. A high number of species (127) and interesting entities were found, according with the variety of ecosystem physiognomies and condition...

In recent times, ethnobiology has revived interest in cognitive aspects of humans' communities. A concept commonly used in this area is cognitive salience. In this paper we assess the wild animal salience meaning for the rural people from an area of the mountain range of the Córdoba province (Argentina). We also analyzed the relationship of cultural and ecological factors over wild animal domain salience. The values of cognitive salience, perception and cultural value were obtained by means of free lists to 16 collaborators, while semistructured interviews were used to inquire about local ecological knowledge and ease of observation about wild animals. The interdependence between the five variables elaborated was analyzed through a Principal Components Regression. The results show a qualitative relationship between Cognitive Salience and Cultural Value and a significant correlation between Cognitive Salience and Local Ecological Knowledge. Ease of Observation did not correlate with Cognitive Salience, but show a significant relationship with the Perceived Abundance. The results suggest a complex network of factors that are modeling the cognitive salience and local perceptions over wild animals. In our findings, highlight the Cultural Value given to harmful animals which reflects an increasing pattern in the region, the conflict between rural people and wild animals. In turn a mutual influences and causal feedback loops between cognitive salience and an ecological factor, the Perceived abundance, is proposed. Investigations over cognition and about how people perceived nature can give us an idea of how they act in it, a compelling factor when it comes to cultural and biological conservation issues.

Different perceptions of wildlife are usually involved in decision-making processes on the use of environmental commons and in human choices; therefore, knowing how people value nature can enhance our understanding about human-wildlife relationships. We propose to broaden the concept of cultural value by considering the trade-offs between positive and negative nature's contributions to people (NCP), including trade-offs influenced by near-past contexts. Field work was conducted with inhabitants of a rural community of the Dry Chaco of Argentina, aiming at knowing the importance of fauna in people s lives. We conducted free listings and semi-structured interviews and calculated the cognitive salience index and five cultural value indexes (differing in the number and types of NCP categories considered).Local inhabitants were found to assess wild species by considering the satisfaction of material needs, immaterial aspects, and/or the damages that certain species may cause. The ethnospecies most widely and frequently used with material purposes in the near past and at present, and those considered the most harmful showed the highest salience values. The cultural value index that integrates both positive and negative assessments was positively correlated with cognitive salience; this relationship supports the results, showing that cognitive salience not only is conditioned by positive assessments but also captures multiple fauna assessments, including the negative ones.

The Chacoan peccary Catagonus wagneri is the rarest and most threatened of the three extant species of peccary. Its presence has been recorded in the northern Dry Chaco ecoregion, which spans northern Argentina, western Paraguay and south-eastern Bolivia. However, distribution models based on its occurrence in Argentina have predicted that suitable habitat extends southwards into central Argentina, where the species was not previously recorded. We present several records of the species outside the currently accepted distribution, including the first two records in the west of Córdoba province, > 650 km south of the southern limit of the previously known distribution. The discovery of the Chacoan peccary in central Argentina could serve as a justification for the protection of Chacoan forests in this region, where deforestation rates are among the highest worldwide.