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      Ethno-ornithology and conservation of wild birds in the semi-arid Caatinga of northeastern Brazil

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          Abstract

          The utilization of birds as pets has been recognized as one of the principal threats to global avifauna. Most of the information about the use and sale of birds as pets has been limited to areas of high biodiversity and whose impacts of anthropic actions have been widely broadcast internationally, for example for the Amazon Forest and forest remnants of Southeast Asia. The Caatinga predominates in the semi-arid region of Brazil, and is one of the semi-arid biomes with the greatest biological diversity in the world, where 511 species of birds exist. Many of these birds are used as pets, a common practice in the region, which has important conservationist implications but has been little studied. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to detail aspects of the use of birds as pets in a locality in the semi-arid region of Northeast Brazil. Information on the use of avifauna was obtained through interviews and visits to the homes of 78 wild bird keepers. A total of 41 species of birds were recorded, mostly of the families Emberizidae (n = 9 species), Columbidae (n = 7 species), Icteridae (n = 6 species) and Psittacidae (n = 3 species). The birds that were most often recorded were Paroaria dominicana (n = 79 especimens), Sporophila albogularis (n = 67), Aratinga cactorum (n = 49), Sporophila lineola (n = 36), Sicalis flaveola (n = 29) and Sporophila nigricollis (n = 27). The use of wild birds in the area studied, as an example of what occurs in other places in the semi-arid Northeast, demonstrates that such activities persist in the region, in spite of being illegal, and have been happening in clandestine or semi-clandestine manner. No statistically significant correlation were found between socioeconomic factors and keeping birds as pets reflects the cultural importance of this practice of rearing wild birds for pets in the region, which is widespread among the local population, independent of socioeconomic factors. Obviously, human pressure on the avifauna exploited has ecological implications and makes it clear that conservationist measures should consider the cultural, economic and social aspects of these practices. These measures should be carried out by both directly combating the illegal traffic of animals and promoting educational campaigns aimed at all the players involved, from the collectors up to the consumer and wild bird keepers.

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          Effects of Subsistence Hunting on Vertebrate Community Structure in Amazonian Forests

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            Synergistic Effects of Subsistence Hunting and Habitat Fragmentation on Amazonian Forest Vertebrates

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              Tree species impoverishment and the future flora of the Atlantic forest of northeast Brazil.

              Estimates of species extinction due to human impact on tropical forests have previously been based on the relationship between species number and area. Here we use a different approach to estimate loss of tree species in the Atlantic forest of northeast Brazil. We evaluate the characteristics of plant species, their avian dispersers and the distribution of the forest remnants on the landscape to estimate that about 33.9% of tree species in this region will become extinct on a regional scale. Because northeast Brazil is the most threatened sector of South American Atlantic forest, our results highlight the need to change the current conservation paradigm for this region. Rather than focus on the creation of isolated reserves in any medium-to-large forest remnant, a bioregional planning approach is urgently required to rescue this unique biota from extinction.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                J Ethnobiol Ethnomed
                J Ethnobiol Ethnomed
                Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine
                BioMed Central
                1746-4269
                2013
                27 February 2013
                : 9
                : 14
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Estadual da Paraíba, Av. das Baraúnas, 351/Campus Universitário, Bodocongó, 58109-753, Campina Grande-PB, Brazil
                [2 ]Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Zoologia), Departamento de Sistemática e Ecologia da Universidade Federal da Paraíba, 58051-900, João Pessoa, PB, Brazil
                Article
                1746-4269-9-14
                10.1186/1746-4269-9-14
                3599943
                23445769
                c9bbbef0-f753-4164-8d61-630f85a2fde2
                Copyright ©2013 Alves et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 25 September 2012
                : 23 February 2013
                Categories
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                Health & Social care
                Health & Social care

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