Comparative range use by three Atlantic Forest understorey bird species in relation to forest fragmentation

In this paper, we report on rangeuse patterns of birds in relation to tropical forestfragmentation. Between 2003 and 2005, three understorey passerinespecies were radio-tracked in five locations of a fragmented and in two locations of a contiguousforest landscape on the Atlantic Plateau of Sao Paulo in south-eastern Brazil. Standardized ten-day home rangesof 55 individuals were used to determine influences of landscape pattern, season, species, sex and age. In addition, total observed home rangesof 76 individuals were reported as minimum measures of spatial requirements of the species. Further, seasonal home rangesof recaptured individuals were compared to examine site fidelity. Chiroxiphia caudata, but not Pyriglena leucopteraor Sclerurus scansor, used home rangesmore than twice as large in the fragmented versus contiguousforest. Home rangesizes of C. caudatadiffered in relation to sex, age, breeding status and season. Seasonal home rangesgreatly overlapped in both C. caudataand in S. scansor. Our results suggest that one response by some forest bird species to habitat fragmentationentails enlarging their home rangesto include several habitat fragments, whereas more habitat-sensitive species remain restricted to larger forest patches.