Distribution of hummingbird species in an area undergoing regeneration of a Dry Tropical Forest

Factors such as the richness and abundance of hummingbirds can be influenced by the structure and composition of the vegetation, changing their dynamics and distribution in the environment. So, it is expected that in the more advanced regeneration stage, the environment will offer more resources, allowing an increase in the number of individuals and species on the area. So, the objective of this work is to evaluate the changes in the abundance of individuals and the richness of hummingbird species over five years in a regenerated pasture area. The study was carried out in the Parque Estadual da Mata Seca, in Manga-MG (14º45’21» S, 43º55’56» W), whose predominant vegetation is Dry Tropical Forest. The specimens were captured using mist networks between October 2008 and January 2014. To analyze the variation in abundance and species richness between the years, generalized linear models were constructed in the R software. In all models, the distribution of Errors was Poisson, relations were significant when p <0.05. The analyses showed that the abundance of hummingbirds increased over the years, however, there was no significant difference in the richness. The increase in abundance may be related to the increase of the floral resources, in response to the greater structural complexity of the vegetation over the years. However, the years of regeneration weren’t enough for more species to settle in the area. Further studies will be necessary to verify the potential pollinator of these hummingbirds on the area and their importance to the natural regeneration of degraded areas.