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The Wilson Journal of Ornithology 123( 1 ):24—32, 2011 
ORNITHOLOGICAL RECORDS FROM A CAMPINA/CAMPINARANA 
ENCLAVE ON THE UPPER JURUA RIVER, ACRE, BRAZIL 
EDSON GUILHERME' 24 AND SERGIO H. BORGES 1,4 
ABSTRACT.—We inventoried the bird fauna of an isolated enclave of white-sand vegetation, known locally as a 
campina/campinarana, in the western extreme of the Brazilian State of Acre between 22 and 31 January 2007 (wet season). 
A total of 114 bird species was registered in 1,425 net-hrs of mist-netting and 8 hrs of recordings of vocalizations. This 
included six species known to be associated with campinas and campinaranas in western Amazonia. A number of important 
records were made of species endemic to the southwestern Amazon Basin, but poorly-known in Brazil. Despite the 
relatively small size of the campina/campinarana enclave, these records indicate the area is extremely important for 
conservation of local biodiversity, and reinforces the need for further studies of both the avifauna and other groups of 
animals. Received 4 March 2010. Accepted 6 August 2010. 
Campina and campinarana refer to a complex 
mosaic of non-forest vegetation growing on 
nutrient-poor sandy soils at a number of different 
locations throughout the Amazon Basin (Ander¬ 
son 1981, Daly and Mitchell 2000, Alonso and 
Whitney 2003, Vicentini 2004). These two types 
of habitat are most common in the basin of the 
Rio Negro, which is a major northern (left bank) 
tributary of the Amazon/Solimoes River (Macedo 
and Prance 1978, Hess et al. 1998). Local 
residents in Brazil use campina to refer to 
“islands” or enclaves of bushy herbaceous 
vegetation on white-sand soils, which form 
patches of open grassland in the middle of the 
forest. Residents refer to this habitat as campinar¬ 
ana, which means “false campina”, when the 
vegetation of these enclaves is characterized by 
relatively high densities of trees of reduced stature 
and girth, but lacks emergents, lianas, or epiphytes 
(Anderson 1981). Campinas and campinaranas are 
found only in the western extreme of the State of 
Acre in the River Jurua Basin (Acre 2000, IBGE 
2005). 
The species richness of the flora of the 
campinaranas is relatively low in comparison 
with other forested ecosystems in the Amazon, but 
1 Universidade Federal do Acre, Centro de Ciencias 
Biologicas e da Natureza, Laboratorio de Pesquisas 
Paleontologicas, Campus Universitario. Rodovia BR 364, 
Km 04, n 6637 - Distrito Industrial. CEP: 69915-900, Rio 
Branco-Acre. Brasil. 
Pos Gradua^ao em Zoologia, Universidade Federal do 
Para/Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Caixa Postal 399, 
CEP: 66040-170, Belum, PA, Brasil. 
* Funda 9ao Vitoria Amazonica, Rua Estrela d’Alva n°07, 
Conjunto Morada do Sol, CEP: 69080-510, Manaus,’ 
Amazonas, Brasil. 
Corresponding author; e-mail: guilherme@ufac.br or 
sergio @ fva.org. br 
botanical research in these enclaves has revealed a 
relatively large number of endemic species 
(Anderson 1981, Daly and Mitchell 2000, Vice¬ 
ntini 2004). A similar pattern of high levels of 
endemism has been recorded in studies of 
invertebrate (Hofer et al. 1996, Marini-Filho 
1999, Barbosa et al. 2002, Ricetti and Bonaldo 
2008) and vertebrate (e.g., birds: Oren 1981, 
Alonso 2002, Alonso and Whitney 2003, Borges 
2004, Poletto and Aleixo 2005) faunas of campina 
and campinarana enclaves. Species richness and 
abundance are markedly lower than those of the 
adjacent forest ecosystems. 
Birds are the best-studied vertebrate group from 
the white-sand enclaves of the Amazon. Surveys 
at a number of sites have revealed new species 
(Whitney and Alonso 1998, Alonso and Whitney 
2001, Isler et al. 2002) and expanded the known 
geographic ranges of a number of taxa (Borges 
and Almeida 2001, Alonso and Whitney 2003, 
Poletto and Aleixo 2005). Borges (2004) argued 
that comparisons between bird communities from 
different Amazonian campinas are hindered by a 
lack of inventories for most sites. 
We provide the first discussion and annotated 
list of the bird fauna of a campina/campinarana 
enclave on the upper Rio Jurua in the Brazilian 
State of Acre. This enclave is isolated from all 
others in southwestern Amazonia. 
METHODS 
Study Area .—The campina/campinarana en¬ 
clave studied is in the municipality of Porto 
Walter, on the right bank of the stream Cruzeiro 
do Vale (08° 20' 35.7" S, 72° 36' 19.7" W, 
Fig. 1). The enclave has a total area of 103 km 1 2 
and is 193 m above sea level. It is bordered by 
both varzea (flooded whitewater habitat) and terra 
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