Small mammal community structure and composition in the Cerrado Province of central Brazil

Community structure, macrohabitat selection, and patterns of species co-occur- rence were examined during a 14-month study of small mammals in the Cerrado Province of central Brazil. Data were collected from mark-recapture grids in brejo and gallery forest, and from live-trapping and specimen collection in all habitat types within cerrado (campo limpo, campo sujo, cerrado [s.s.], cerradão, brejo, valley-side wet campo, and gallery forest). Gallery forest supported the highest species richness, most complex vertical distribution of species, highest level of trophic diversity, and highest macroniche diversity. Degree of habitat selection varied widely. All habitat types supported both rodents and marsupials, although marsupials tended to be much less common in the grasslands (campos) than in woodlands (cerrado) and forests (cerradão, gallery forest). Some species, such as Didelphis albiventris, occurred in all habitat types, while others were much more restricted. Oryzomys bicolor, for example, ocur- red only in gallery forest. No habitat type had a completely distinct fauna: overlap in species composition always occurred with at least one other habitat type. Because of the great varia- bility of habitats, and the fact that subsets of the mammal fauna were frequently habitat specific, the overall species richness of any portion of mixed cerrado vegetation is remarkably high