The bird fauna of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest is exceptionally diverse and threatened, with high levels of endemism. Available lists of the endemic birds of the Atlantic Forest were generated before recent taxonomic revisions lumped or split species and before the recent increase in species occurrence records. Our objective, therefore, was to compile a new list of the endemic birds of the Atlantic Forest, characterize these species in terms of conservation status and natural history traits, and map remaining vegetation and protected areas. We combined GIS analysis with a literature search to compile a list of endemic species and, based on the phylogeny and distribution of these species, characterized areas in terms of species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and endemism. We identified 223 species of birds endemic to the Atlantic Forest, including 12 species not included in previous lists. In addition, 14 species included in previous lists were not considered endemic, either because they occur outside the Atlantic Forest biome or because they are not considered valid species. The typical Atlantic Forest endemic bird is a small forest-dependent invertivore. Of the species on our list, 31% are considered threatened or extinct. Only~34% of the spatial analysis units had > 10% forest cover, and protected area coverage was consistently low (< 1%). In addition, we found spatial incongruity among the different measures of biodiversity (species richness, relative phylogenetic diversity, restricted-range species, and irreplaceability). Each of these measures provides information concerning different aspects of biological diversity. However, regardless of which aspect(s) of biodiversity might be considered most important, preservation of the remaining areas of remnant vegetation and further expansion of protected areas are essential if we are to conserve the many endemic species of birds in the Atlantic Forest. 6 Corresponding author. considerados m as importantes, la preservaci on de las areas de vegetaci on remanentes y una mayor expansi on de las areas protegidas son esenciales si nuestra intenci on es conservar las muchas especies de aves end emicas del Bosque Atl antico.

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A number of recognized shortfalls currently exist in biology. They are related to 1) a disparity between the species described and the actual number of species; 2) uncertainties in species’ geographical distribution; 3) scarcity of species abundance data and 4) a lack of evolutionary data. Here, we discuss how attempts to solve the Eltonian shortfall (scarcity of knowledge about intra‐ and interspecific interactions, responses of species to environment and the effects of species on ecosystems) based on functional ecology must be aware of the pitfalls of using a Grinnellian view (broad scale) to address local questions (Eltonian scale). Since the characterization of species’ requirements and their effects on the environment (Eltonian niche) is based on functional traits, it is important to recognize that the Grinnellian niche is focused on the requirements but not the effect of species on a given habitat. By neglecting the dichotomy between the Eltonian and Grinnellian niches, choosing traits based on large‐scale datasets to address local questions to describe the niche of a species may lead to two pitfalls. The first applies to situations where traits that may predict potential distribution and coexistence at large scales (Grinnellian view) are often not suitable for explaining coexistence at local scales (Eltonian view). Since the Eltonian niche comprises the requirements and impacts of species at a local scale, the second pitfall is that the selection of traits only based on their significance at coarse scales may ignore the distinction between response and effect traits. We present a theoretical framework that explores the Eltonian shortfall, and discuss possible solutions. We provide a conceptual basis to aid in the choice of traits with respect to niche concepts and population ecology for dealing with the Eltonian shortfall.

Edge effects strongly affect the abundance and distribution of organisms across landscapes, with wide-ranging implications in ecology and conservation biology. The extensive literature on the subject has traditionally considered that edge effects result from the active avoidance or preference of organisms for certain portions of the habitat patch, assuming that abundance is uniform across a patch when environmental conditions are uniform. We demonstrate that this assumption is incorrect due to the so-far ignored 'geometric edge effect' (GEE). In the absence of environmental gradients, abundance of any organism living in a bounded habitat patch will tend to be lower in areas located near the edges compared to areas in the centre of the patch, simply because the areas in the centre receive individuals from all directions, whereas areas near the edge do not receive individuals from outside the patch. This geometric effect was already known for species richness at large geographic scales, the mid-domain effect, but its importance in the literature of edge effects remained neglected so far. Using simulations, we show that the GEE tends to reduce population abundance and community richness near the edges of bounded habitat patches, and that apparently neutral or negative responses to the edge may occur even when habitat quality is higher near the edges. A published study that detected significant edge effects is reanalyzed, demonstrating that interpreting observed abundance patterns without taking the GEE into account -as traditionally done in the vast literature on edge effects -could provide misleading conclusions. The incorporation of the GEE into sampling and analytical protocols of future studies could advance substantially our ability to understand and predict edge effects in heterogeneous landscapes.

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