Rapid Assessment Program - Conservação Internacional

irds, and has areas in two centers of endemism for butterflies
(Oiapoque and Manaus/Guiana), two centers of endemism
for plants (Guiana and North Central Amazonia), and
is also inserted in an area with a high diversity of primates
(Hueck 1972, Tyler et al. 1994).
The PNMT together with the Amapá National Forest,
the Rio Iratapuru Sustainable Use Reserve and the nearby
Waiãpi, Uaça, Galibi and Juminá Indian Lands form a large
and extremely well-preserved block of forests, legally protecting
the central-west part of Amapá. The pressures in and
around the PNMT can still be considered weak. With the
exception of the small Vila Brasil (ca. 400 people), at the
margins of the Oipoque River, bordering French Guiana,
there is no other human population living inside the park.
However, the main threats to the park are associated with illegal
gold mining and the invasion of parts of the park along
the Lourenço River, and along the border with Suriname
and French Guiana. There are close to 20 illegal airstrips detectable
by satellite images inside the park’s limits. Hunting
and fishing at its southern portion, near the town of Serra do
Navio, and the opening of trails, near the Perimetral Norte
Road, are among other threats that need to be addressed.
However, there were no studies on the real dimension and
impact caused by such activities.
IBAMA has no offices inside the park and the nearest
office is located in Serra do Navio. Opened in November
2006, the first park office was donated by Conservation International
and comprises buildings, an administrative office,
one guest house and a boat house. According to IBAMA’s
Executive Manager, this office contributes to the park’s
management plan, making work easier for the park’s management
team, facilitating the integration of surveillance,
scientific research and environmental education activities,
and reducing the physical distance between IBAMA’s headquarters
and the Park. Serra do Navio’s City Hall and the
Government of Amapá donated the area for the construction
of the office. However, currently, most of the administrative
activities related with the park are still based in the capital
Macapá, at IBAMA’s headquarters.
The PNMT’s management plan is expected to be concluded
by the end of 2007. With the execution of rapid biological
surveys and the production of species occurrence lists,
the scientific expeditions contributed to better knowledge of
the park’s biodiversity, and provided the scientific information
necessary for the elaboration of the management plan,
especially the chapter describing the park’s biological richness.
The researchers also contributed several “Conservation
Recommendations”, both specific and general.
Small temporary camps were set up and removed for the
biological inventories. Around each of these camps, a trail
system was established to provide better access for researchers.
During Expedition I, three trails were opened: T1, 3,333
m long, west-northwest; T2, 1,139 m, west-southwestern;
and T3, 193 m, west-south. For Expedition II only one
trail was opened, 7,894 m long, southwestern-northeastern.
Two trails forming a figure 8 were opened for Expedition
III: T1, 5,000 m, reaching a rock outcrop, and T2 with ca.
Inventários Biológicos Rápidos no Parque Nacional Montanhas do Tumucumaque, Amapá, Brasil
Rapid Biological Inventories in the Tumucumaque Mountains National Park, Amapá, Brazil
Sumário das Expedições
2,000 m. Three trails were opened for Expedition IV: T1,
7,000 m long, T2, 1,900 m, and T3, 2,100 m long. During
this expedition, sampling extended beyond the trail system,
and several groups were collected along the Mutum River,
reaching the Lamparina waterfall, ca. 8.5 km upriver from
the temporary camp. For the last Expedition, six trails were
opened: T1, 249 m; T2, 2,580 m; T3, 4,110 m; T4, 7,630
m; T5, 580 m; and T6, 1,360 m.
MAIN RESulTS
Birds. A total of 366 species and 58 families were
recorded. There were records of large populations of species
threatened by hunting elsewhere and species considered
as sensitive to habitat disturbance, indicating pristine and
untouched dense understory in some of the sampled areas.
Several important records on the biology, ecology and
ethology of the species were made. Noteworthy records
include the White-wing Potoo (Nyctibius leucopterus), a
poorly known species with just three specimens collected,
all deposited outside Brazil, and the record of the common
tern (Sterna paradisea) in an area far from known migration
routes. The records presented here are the first organized
data about species occurrence in the Park. Together with the
savannas along the coast, Tumucumaque now has the best
information available for birds in Amapá.
Reptiles and Amphibians. After five expeditions, a
total of 70 species of amphibians and 86 species of reptiles
were recorded in Tumucumaque. Species accumulation
curves for amphibians and lizards tended towards stabilization,
different from those for snakes. The most species-rich
families were Leptodactylidae, Hylidae and Bufonidae for
anurans, Gymnophthalmidae for lizards and Colubridae for
snakes. Five species of chelonians and three of caimans were
recorded. Three species of anurans, one Gymnophiona and
three lizards are thought to be new species, and are currently
under description. With 156 species recorded, PNMT has
the highest species richness in Amapá and one of the higher
recorded in Brazilian Amazonia.
Fishes. Twenty-six families, 93 genera and 207 species
were recorded in the Park. The Ictiofauna is extremely
diverse, including several trophic guilds, confirming the
excellent conservation status of most of the areas sampled.
In at least one of the expeditions there were records of strong
pressure by fishing and hunting, conducted by people living
near the Park’s limits. There were no records of exotic species,
or of threatened species, though some recorded species
can be classified as rare. Seven new species were already
identified and are under description. At least 23 species were
recorded for the first time in Amapá.
Crustaceans. A total of 123 locations were sampled,
resulting in records of 12 species of crabs of the families
Pseudothelphusidae (genera Fredius and Kingsleya) and
Trichodactylidae (genera Dilocarcinus, Sylviocarcinus and
Valdivia) and seven species of shrimps of the families Palaemonidae
(genera Macrobrachium and Pseudopalaemon) and
Euryrhynchynidae (genera Euryrhynchus), plus individuals of
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