CARACTERIZAÇÃO DA AVIFAUNA AQUÁTICA NO LITORAL CENTRO-NORTE DO ESTADO DE SANTA CATARINA (BRASIL) A PARTIR DE DADOS DE ENCALHES

Abstract

Stranding records provide valuable information on marine fauna and are an important source of biological data without the need for lethal sampling. For endangered, rare and endemic species, stranded records are the primary source of information. We characterized the main species of aquatic birds from carcasses and healthy and / or debilitated individuals found on beaches by the "Projeto de Monitoramento de Praias da Bacia de Santos (PMP-BS)”. The study was carried out on the north-central coast of Santa Catarina (Brazil), from August 25, 2015 to August 23, 2016. The registered species were characterized according to the following criteria: migrants or residents; threatened of extinction; seasons; age group; and state of the individual. Additionally, ecological indexes were calculated, and the records obtained were spacialized in the GIS environment. A total of 754 stranded records were obtained from 36 species of aquatic birds, four of which are threatened (Sterna hirundinacea, Thalasseus maximus, Procellaria aequinoctialis and Thalassarche chlororhynchos). The highest number of occurrences was recorded in Barra Velha (n = 157), followed by Bombinhas (n=150) and Penha (n=119). Most records occurred in the spring (n=339), followed by records in winter (n=187), summer (n=127) and autumn (n=101). Of the specimens where sex could be determined, 19 were females and 41 males. I relation to age, 175 were adults, 287 juveniles and 292 remained indeterminate. Most of the records were of dead individuals (N = 578). The species with greatest abundance were Spheniscus magellanicus (n=188), Larus dominicanus (n=164), Fregata magnificens (n=73) and Puffinus puffinus (n=58). We suggest the continuity of the analysis of the records obtained by the PMP-BS, focusing on other topics not addressed as diet and cause of mortality, the latter being often related to anthropic origin, such as oil spills, fishing, plastic garbage, among others, beyond natural causes.