NON-ESSENTIAL METALS IN UNDERSTORE WILD BIRDS IN DIFFERENT ATLANTIC FOREST FRAGMENTS.
Birds, feathers, aluminum
The Atlantic Forest north of the São Francisco River, known as the Pernambuco Endemism Center, is the most critical area of the biome, mainly due to the devastation caused by sugarcane. In the process of producing alcohol and sugar, one of the stages is burning to harvest sugarcane, during which countless natural predators are eliminated, requiring the great use of pesticides, such as herbicides, in addition to other mineral fertilizers. Present in these compounds are non-essential metals with great potential for environmental pollution, causing major impacts on ecosystems. Among organisms that can suffer from this contamination are birds, which have specific eating habits, the ability to carry out large displacements and great sensitivity and low levels of detoxifying enzymes. The study was carried out in three fragments of Atlantic Forest protected by the Pernambuco Endemism Center (PEC) in Alagoas. For analysis, 10 feathers were collected from the chest of understory forest birds. Our study found only the presence of aluminum in the samples. On dry periods, birds of the species Schiffornis turdina from ESEC-Murici showed much higher aluminum concentrations than birds of the same species from Mata do Cedro. Furthermore, aluminum concentrations were much higher in September in the avifauna of RPPN Mata do Matão. The results showed the need for attention in the study areas that showed levels of aluminum contamination, proving to be a threat to the local fauna and flora, requiring attention in relation to the large use of mineral fertilizers.