Comparação da riqueza e composição de aves no interior e na borda em um fragmento de Foresta Estacional Decidual Richness and composition of birds in a fragment Dec iduous Forest during the reproductive period: comparisons between edge and interior

The northeastern region of the Rio Grande do Sul st ate is a widely agricultural region, and the native local forest is extremely reduced and fragmented. Considering the i mportance of forest fragments to maintain the diver sity of bird species and the scarcity of ornithological studies in this region of the state a survey of bird specie s was conducted, in addition, we evaluated the richness and composition of bird communities between the edge and the inter ior of a forest fragment was performed Regional Institute of Rural Development, comprising one of the largest forest f ragments of northeastern at Rio Grande do Sul state. Tracks wer e established at the edge and in the interior of th e forest and, the surrounding areas of the fragment. Five sampling po ints were established every 100 m in each of the tr acks and the sampling interval at each point was 20 minutes. Wer e recorded 126 species of birds, these seven only o n the edge, 15 inside and 45 in the surrounding areas of the fragm ent. The composition of species differed significan tly between border and interior according to the variance analy sis. As these results some species that inhabit for est seem to be more affected by changes of edge, with its restricted to the interior of the fragment occurrence. Thus high lighting the importance of preserving this area for the maintena nce of birdlife, especially because of the registra tion of two threatened species.