dezembro, 21 2010

By Ligia Paes de Barros

By July the camps were ready but an unexpected problem with the aircraft meant that the expedition was put off until December and so it was that on December 2 the 43-member team came together in the city of Altamira in Pará and the following day they set off in the aircraft chartered by the ICMBio and the Army helicopters for the ICMBio’s operational base in the Serra do Pardo National Park.

Their destination on leaving the operational base was the first research base camp and the journey in was made by helicopter. There were two surprises on the first day: first there was no water in the stream at base 1, which meant that everyone had to spend 2 days without being able to bathe and the second was a problem with the Army’s Cougar helicopter that kept it grounded.

All those problems were eventually overcome and on the second day the researchers in the fields of botany, ichthyofauna (fish), herpetofauna (reptiles and amphibians), mammalian fauna, and avifauna (birds) began their work and set off along the four trails radiating from the camp area. Shortly afterwards there came the good news that a possible previously unregistered species had been identified in the area.

After spending four days at the first research base the team moved to another base known as base 3 in spite of its being the second base to be worked in. At base 3 where the researchers spent five days, the differences from base one were clearly visible even to a lay person: the vegetation was low and creeping and looked very much like Cerrado savannah vegetation.

 “The expedition’s first research base was in a flatter area with isolated hills and streams that go dry during the dry season. At the second base we are on a hill where the soil is very poorly structured and the vegetation is more typical of open environments. Furthermore we have perennial water courses here that flow all year long”, explained the expedition’s research coordinator Roberto Antonelli Filho.  “That increases the value of the survey because the research is conducted in quite different environments”, he added.

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To know more about the Scientific Expedition to Terra do Meio 2010:

• First-time study of Amazonian area reveals enormous richness of biodiversity
• Acquiring knowledge to improve biodiversity conservation
• The scientific expedition: from preparations to actual research
• From preparations to actual research: research begins
• Methodology employed: rapid ecological assessment
• The history of the Serra do Pardo National Park
• Possible previously unregistered fish species found in the Serra do Pardo National Park
• Species found in the Serra do Pardo National Park
• The work of the researchers:
  • Among the snakes and toads
  • Sharp hearing: more than 250 birds identified by their calls and songs
  • Investigational work: looking for Jaguar tracks
  • Looking for flowers, fruits and seeds
  • Searching the streams and rivers