Luís Fábio Silveira

University of São Paulo | USP · Museum of Zoology

The semideciduous forest is a prominent yet highly degraded phytophysiognomy within the Atlantic Forest. Historically, bird species inhabiting these forests occurred throughout central and western São Paulo state, south‐eastern Brazil, until the mid‐20th century. Many of these species have not been observed again or are nearing extinction within th...

Investigating multi-taxa macroecological patterns can provide critical insights for spatial conservation planning and landscape management across biodiversity hotspots. The Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC) is a biogeographic region of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest known to harbor the most threatened habitats in the Americas and a considerable numbe...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian mega...

The seed rain determines seed bank structure and composition, ultimately replacing canopy trees through seedling recruitment in tropical forests. Therefore, seed rain affects forest regeneration, driving community assembly at different levels. The present study investigated how landscape metrics affect seed rain patterns across remnants of the Braz...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classification. In this context, the B Brazilian meg...

The lack of synthesized information regarding biodiversity is a major problem among researchers, leading to a pervasive cycle where ecologists make field campaigns to collect information that already exists and yet has not been made available for a broader audience. This problem leads to long-lasting effects in public policies such as spending mone...

The lack of synthesized information regarding biodiversity is a major problem among researchers, leading to a pervasive cycle where ecologists make field campaigns to collect information that already exists and yet has not been made available for a broader audience. This problem leads to long-lasting effects in public policies such as spending mone...

Ecological Corridors (ECs) are proposed as cost-effective solutions to improve ecological connectivity in fragmented landscapes. Planning the implementation of ECs must take into account landscape features as they affect the viability of the endeavor and the ECs associated costs. A novel set of geoprocessing tools were used to analyze i) viability;...

An often-overlooked question of the biodiversity crisis is how natural hazards contribute to species extinction risk. To address this issue, we explored how four natural hazards, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, overlapped with the distribution ranges of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles that have either narrow distributions...

The Black-goggled Tanager (Trichothraupis melanops) is a South American forest species that comprises two disjunct populations in the Atlantic Forest and in the Andes. During visits to natural history museums, we noticed morphological differences between these populations, which led to a taxonomic revision of the species based on plumage patterns a...

Suplementary Material of "A new species of tanager (Aves: Thraupidae) from the Eastern slopes of the Andes", published in Zootaxa

Melanopareia crescentchests (Melanopareiidae) comprise a poorly known family of skulking birds restricted to low gras and scrub habitats in South America. Almost nothing is known about the diet of the five members of this family, which is included in the Parvorder Furnariida, chiefly composed by insectivorous birds. In this paper, we present the re...

Understanding the mechanisms by which tropical forest fragmentation can affect the persistence of species and populations is of scientific and practical interest. However, nest survival has been one the least addressed of the potentially harmful effects associated with habitat fragmentation, and studies involving nest predator's identification are...

The Golden Parakeet is an endemic Brazilian flagship species that has suffered from poaching and habitat loss, leading to local extinctions in the urbanized parts of the Amazon. We reintroduced six groups of mostly captive-bred parakeets in a protected area. The birds were acclimatized for at least five months at the release site, where they were t...

Citation: Cavarzere V, Silveira LF (2024) Integrative taxonomy of Cercomacroides serva (Sclater, 1858) demonstrates the validity of C. hypome-laena (Sclater, 1890) comb. nov. (Aves: Thamnophilidae). Vertebrate Zoology 74 235-247. https://doi. Abstract Cercomacroides serva is widely distributed in northern South America. However, this species has ne...

Reproductive activity in animals is regulated by variations in plasma levels of steroid hormones, which respond to both geophysical and social-environmental cues. Changes in testosterone (T) levels play a crucial role in coordinating the morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations among males, orchestrating gonadal recrudescence and re...

Common distributional patterns have provided the foundations of our knowledge of Neotropical biogeography. A distinctive pattern is the "circum-Amazonian distribu-tion", which surrounds Amazonia across the forested lowlands south and east of the basin, the Andean foothills, the Venezuelan Coastal Range, and the Tepuis. The underlying evolutionary a...

Reproductive activity in animals is regulated by variations in plasma levels of steroid hormones, which respond to both geophysical and social-environmental cues. Changes in testosterone (T) levels play a crucial role in coordinating the morphological, physiological, and behavioral adaptations among males, orchestrating gonadal recrudescence and re...

Aim To search for a general regionalization pattern using verified records of endemic terrestrial vertebrates. To test previous hypotheses of congruent distribution patterns for Cerrado biotas. To study the role of elevation as a driver of endemism and distribution in the Cerrado region. Location Cerrado domain, central South America. Taxon Tetra...

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia is an opportunistic human pathogen associated with nosocomial and community-acquired infections. We have conducted a microbiological and genomic surveillance study of broad-spectrum cephalosporin- and carbapenem-resistant Gram-negative bacteria colonizing wild birds inhabiting the Brazilian Amazonia. Strikingly, two S....

An open and dry vegetation belt separates Amazonia (AM) and the Atlantic Forest (AF). Evidence from palaeoclimatic and phylogenetic studies suggests past connections between these forests during cycles of increased humidity through the formation of forest corridors. The distinctive northern AF avifauna is known to have affinities both with AM and t...

The Brown-backed Parrotlet, Touit melanonotus, is a rare endemic bird to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, currently considered as "Vulnerable" in the Brazilian Red List of Threatened Species. We estimated the sex ratio of a wild flock of T. melanonotus using molecular markers, examined morphological variation in 34 museum specimens to test for sexual...

Accurate species delimitation is essential for many biological subdisciplines. Nonetheless, current species diversity remains incompletely documented even in well-studied groups such as birds. Here, we take an integrative approach to examine species limits in the genus Schiffornis, a widespread group of dull-plumaged, whistle-voiced suboscine passe...

Large forested tracts are increasingly rare in the tropics, where conservation managers are often presented with the challenge of preserving biodiversity in small and isolated fragments. The Atlantic Forest is one of the world’s most important biodiversity hotspots, jeopardized by habitat loss and fragmentation. The Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC)...

The Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) and the Large-billed Tern (Phaetusa simplex) are two migratory waterbirds that breed simultaneously on many river beaches in South America. Both are polytypic taxa with little information about the distribution and nonbreeding ("wintering") areas. Based on data from the literature, citizen science websites, fieldw...

Graphical abstract Highlights d Ecological metadata were compiled for 7,694 sites across the Brazilian Amazon d Accessibility and proximity to research facilities influenced research probability d Knowledge gaps are greater in uplands than in wetlands and aquatic habitats d Undersampled areas overlap predicted hotspots of climate change and defores...

Analyzing genetic variability and kinship relations is essential to guide conservation management plans for threatened species. The Red-browed Amazon (Amazona rhodocorytha) is one of the four Amazona parrots that are endemic to remnants of the Atlantic Forest, classified as Vulnerable (IUCN) owing to habitat loss and fragmentation and trapping for...

Seeds and seedlings represent the earliest and most critical stages of plant life cycle, driving plant recruitment and forest regeneration patterns. Recruitment limitation occurs when seeds do not reach the available places in the forest (i.e., seed limitation, which includes source and dispersal limitations), or do not find adequate conditions for...

We present records of chewing lice collected from bird skins of the families Anhimidae, Threskiornithidae, and Aramidae deposited at the Museum of Zoology of University of São Paulo (MZUSP). Twenty-one chewing lice species from the suborders Amblycera and Ischnocera were identified, seven of which are new records for Brazil. These species belong to...

Recent studies have argued that changes in fire regimes in the 21st century are posing a major threat to global biodiversity. In this scenario, incorporating species' physiological, ecological, and evolutionary traits with their local fire exposure might facilitate accurate identification of species most at risk from fire. Here, we developed a fram...

Wild birds have emerged as novel reservoirs and potential spreaders of antibiotic-resistant priority pathogens, being proposed as sentinels of anthropogenic activities related to the use of antimicrobial compounds. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and genomic features of extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria...

Birds’ seasonal altitudinal movements in Brazil are poorly understood. The main source of information and has fostered interest since the 1980s. However, most of the available information is anecdotal, sources are repeatedly cited, and the information provided is quite superficial and speculative. Through bibliographic searches, we found 107 studie...

Effective, resilient and strategic protected area networks are essential to protect biodiversity and human welfare, especially in vulnerable biodiversity hotspots. This is the case in the Brazilian Cerrado, the richest tropical savanna, and a deforestation front worldwide. Worryingly, the rate of habitat conversion in Cerrado greatly reduces opport...

Brazil is home to many mountain ranges which harbor diverse avifauna. However, studies on the altitudinal distribution of Brazilian birds are still few and many have never been published, hampering both the dissemination of basic information and conservation actions. Here we present a critical review of ornithological studies undertaken in Brazilia...

Mangroves and salt marshes are important habitats for resident and migratory birds. Nevertheless, information on avian species richness and composition in Brazilian mangroves and salt marshes is scattered and has never been comprehensively investigated. This chapter aims to identify the diversity of birds inhabiting Brazilian mangroves and salt mar...

Scientific collections constitute a valuable source for contributions to scientific research and the training of human resources in systematics, but also other areas of biological knowledge. In this contribution, we intend to discuss these advancements in collections and the role played by FAPESP in sponsoring them, as well as a general overview of...

Niche partitioning is a widespread ecological strategy within trophic guilds, ensuring the coexistence of sympatric species by reducing interspecific competition. Stable isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen and isotopic niche metrics (width and overlap) are used as a proxy to investigate niche partitioning among species of a guild. In our study,...

Species have been lost at unprecedented rates. Because only a small fraction of the threatened taxa have been managed under human care, contrasting the characteristics of taxa that have, and have not been targeted to ex situ conservation can reveal the reach of this conservation strategy, and can indicate its main challenges. Here we investigated w...

While bird diversity in the Atlantic Forest can be considered well-known, how the communities have been affected by deforestation and habitat fragmentation is not. We studied birds in 10 forest fragments of distinct sizes (all originally within the Atlantic Forest) in southern Bahia. In 5,391 bird encounters, we found 251 species, with 46 endemics...

The Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC) is the most fragmented and degraded tract of the Atlantic Forest, considered to be a hotspot within a hotspot. Recent bird extinctions and the high number of endangered taxa have called the attention of conservation practitioners all over the world to this area. Among the most vulnerable groups of birds are the...

Altitudinal migration in birds comprises seasonal movements between breeding and non-breeding areas in mountainous regions, attributed to biotic and abiotic factors. Different authors have suggested the existence of altitudinal migration between high and low areas of the mountains of the Atlantic Forest, with movement from high to low during the wi...

The Neotropical avian genus Thraupis (Passeriformes, Thraupidae) currently comprises seven species that are widespread and abundant throughout their ranges. However, no phylogenetic hypothesis with comprehensive intraspecific sampling is available for the group and, therefore, currently accepted species limits remain untested. We obtained sequence...

Raman micro-spectroscopy is a non-destructive and non-contact analytical technique that combines microscopy and spectroscopy, thus providing a potential for non-invasive and in situ molecular identification, even over heterogeneous and rare samples such as fossilized tissues. Recently, chemical imaging techniques have become an increasingly popular...

Determining the relative risks of extinction of declining taxa is important to delineate conservation priorities and to guide the investments in conservation. Brazil concentrates the greatest number of endangered avian taxa on Earth, yet demographic information is lacking for most of them. Here we present distance-sampling population density estima...

Electrocution can pose a serious threat to large birds, particularly to threatened species with low population sizes. However, few studies have focused on the impacts of electrocution on large parrots such as the Endangered Lear’s Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari), endemic to the Brazilian Caatinga. Here, we compile and describe 31 electrocution events,...

Resumo expandido do estudo Biasotto-Pacífico et al. 2022 publicado na revista IBIS. BIASOTTO, L.D.; PACÍFICO, E.C.; PASCHOTTO, F.R.; FILADELFO, T.; COUTO, M.B.; SOUSA, A.E.; MANTOVANI, P.; SILVEIRA, L.F.; ASCENSÃO, F.; TELLA, J.L.; KINDEL, A. Power line electrocution as an overlooked threat to the endangered Lear's Macaw (Anodorhynchus leari). IBIS...

The northeast Brazilian state of Alagoas harbors a rather diverse, and one of the world’s most threatened, avifauna. However, the knowledge about its avifauna is currently scattered on several publications and the state’s birds have never been comprehensively assembled into a checklist. To fill this shortfall, we present here the first critical rev...

Although stable isotopes have been increasingly used in ornithology since 1980 in many places, Brazil has been slow in adopting this methodology, especially when it comes to terrestrial birds. The most common elements in bird ecology studies are carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen stable isotopes, which provide information on diet, trophic inter...

Greening is the increase in vegetation biomass linked to raises in CO2 emissions, nitrogen deposition, climate warming, and changes in land cover. Because greening implies land carbon storage, it can contribute to buffering climate changes. While tropical forests are responsible for an important amount of global greening, these environments have be...

The cover image is based on the Letter AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds by Tobias et al., https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. The sword‐billed hummingbird (Ensifera ensifera) is exquisitely adapted to its trophic niche as an aerial pollinator of flowerings plants (angiosperms) in the high Andes. A new global data...

Functional traits offer a rich quantitative framework for developing and testing theories in evolutionary biology, ecology and ecosystem science. However, the potential of functional traits to drive theoretical advances and refine models of global change can only be fully realised when species-level information is complete. Here we present the AVON...

Coloration traits are central to animal communication; they often govern mate choice, promote reproductive isolation and catalyse speciation. Specific genetic changes can cause variation in coloration, yet far less is known about how overall coloration patterns -which involve combinations of multiple colour patches across the body- can arise and ar...

Secondary contact between species often results in the formation of a hybrid zone, with the eventual fates of the hybridizing species dependent on evolutionary and ecological forces. We examine this process in the Amazon Basin by conducting the first genomic and phenotypic characterization of the hybrid zone formed after secondary contact between t...

The intensification of land-use changes in tropical forests during the 20th century, mainly caused by deforestation for agricultural uses, had an overwhelming influence on bird assemblages. However, how these historical anthropogenic changes have impacted the habitat use and diet of tropical birds is poorly known. Stable isotope analysis (δ 13 C an...

O adequado reconhecimento da biodiversidade é uma das atividades humanas mais importantes e está presente nas culturas humanas desde civilizações muito antigas. A identificação e nomeação das entidades biológicas tem sido objeto de estudo de diversos pesquisadores ao redor do mundo, e entre os naturalistas, o Príncipe Maximiliano de Wied-Neuwied me...

The environment can impose constraints on signal transmission properties such that signals should evolve in predictable directions (Sensory Drive Hypothesis). However, behavioral and ecological factors can limit investment in more than one sensory modality leading to a trade‐off in use of different signals (Transfer Hypothesis). In birds, there is...

An updated version of the checklist of birds of Brazil is presented, along with a summary of the changes approved by the Brazilian Ornithological Records Committee’s Taxonomy Subcommittee since the first edition, published in 2015. In total, 1971 bird species occurring in Brazil are supported by documentary evidence and are admitted to the Primary...

The knowledge of the diversity, richness, and distribution of tropical organisms are poorly understood, and a plethora of new species are still being described even among groups considered well-known. As a result, this inadequate knowledge of the biodiversity has hampered the species’ conservation. Thus, sampling efforts must be urgently optimized...

We measured bird diversity over an 800 m range in altitude to test the factors that influence changes in diversity, in the Atlantic Forest in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. We counted forest birds in nine 100 m transects comprising three-point counts, the center of each separated by 200 m. A total of 108 species were found, and diversity was distr...