Patterns of habitat utilization by small mammal populations in cerrado biome of central Brazil

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Abstract
Cerrado is a fairly uniform vegetation formation, a savanna-like grassland, being a variable mixture of small trees and xeromorphic vegetation, composed of several different habitat types ranging from open grass and sedge areas with very few to scattered shrubs through arboreal woodland and closed gallery forest. A capture-mark-release program of study was carried out in five different natural habitats of cerrado of the National Park of Brasilia and Fazenda Agua Limpa both being protected areas. The cerrado biome is marked by a periodicity of rainfall with well defined dry (May-October) and rainy (November-April) seasons. The mammals captured were composed of marsupials (Chironectes minimus, Didelphis albiventris, Marmosa agilis, Monodelphis americana, Monodelphis domestica, and Philander opossum) and rodents (Akodon cursor, Bolomys lasiurus = Zygodontomys lasiurus, Calomys callosus, Calomys tener, Cavia aperea, Euryzygomatomys guiara, Nectomys squamipes, Oryzomys bicolor, Oryzomys capito, Oryzomys concolor, Oryzomys nigripes = Oryzomys eliurus, Oryzomys subflavus, Oryzomys cleberi = Oecomys cleberi, Oxymycterus roberti, Plectomys paludicola, Proechimys longicaudatus, Rhipidomys mastacalis, Thalpomys lasiotis, and Trichomys apereoides). Mammal species composition and population densities differed among the five kinds of habitats studied, where gallery forest was the most diverse habitat. In general, low densities and tendency for breeding throughout the year characterize the species such as Bolomys lasiurus that exhibited breeding peaks during the dry season.

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