The Brazilian state of Acre borders Peru and Bolivia, and is located in the lowlands of the southwestern Amazon basin, close to the foothills of the Andes, in a region considered to be biologically megadiverse. Despite this, the region is still relatively poorly‐known in scientific terms, and is considered to be a priority for further biological surveys. With the aim of contributing to the understanding of the bird fauna of southwestern Amazonia, the principal objective of the present study was to evaluate these three questions: (a) How many and which bird species are found in Acre? (b) How are the species distributed in the state? and (c) What is the conservation status of the resident species? These questions were evaluated through a number of different approaches: (a) a comprehensive review of the literature; (b) field surveys over a two‐year period, including the recording and collection of voucher specimens; (c) production of distribution maps for each taxon (including species and subspecies); (d) distribution of the taxa among the state’s three major interfluvia or subregions (east, central, and west); (e) identification of zones of contact and hybridization, based on the distribution of parapatric species within the state; (f) estimation of the potential distribution of the taxa within the state of Acre, based on the extrapolation of the area occupied by that of each ecological unit (phytophysionomy) in which they were recorded; (g) assessment of the conservation goals for each resident taxon; and (h) a gap analysis, based on the overlap of the potential distribution maps with the state’s protected areas. The gap analysis was conducted with reference to three different scenarios: (a) inclusion of all the protected areas; (b) inclusion of only the fully‐protected area exclusive sustainable‐use units and indigenous reservations; and (c) including fully‐protected and sustainable‐use units, but excluding indigenous reservations. The literature review and surveys (historical and current fieldwork) began in August, 2005, and continued until December, 2007. At the end of this period, a total of 7.141 records of birds had been accumulated for the whole of the state of Acre. Of these, 4.623 are of museum specimens, 2.295 (49,6%) of which were collected during the present study. The presence of 655 biological species was confirmed for Acre, distributed among 73 families and 23 orders. One direct result of the study was the addition of five new species to the list of Brazilian birds. Fifty‐nine migratory species were also recorded, including 30 (50,8%) Nearctic and 18 (30,5%) austral migrants, as well as 11 (18,6%) considered to be intratropical migrants. Forty‐four of the species recorded in the study are endemic to the Inambari endemism center. Of the 556 taxa of forest birds resident in Acre, 405 (72,8%) are found in all three subregions, 56 (10,0%) were recorded only in the western subregion, 30 (5.3%) in the eastern subregion, whereas only three (0,5%) were exclusive to the central area. At least six pairs of sister taxa have an allopatric distribution in the state, while 15 sets of taxa present a parapatric distribution. Two zones of secondary contact (east‐west) and two possible hybrid zones (east‐west) were identified within the state. The gap analysis revealed that, under scenario (a), 87,1% of the taxa were fully protected (100% conservation target), and 12% were considered intermediate, that is, partially protected, whereas only 0.8% were completely unprotected. In scenario (b), by contrast, only 0,6% of the taxa were fully protected, 97.6% were partially protected, and 1,8% were totally unprotected. In the third scenario (c), 73,5% of taxa were fully protected, 25,5% partially protected, and only 0,8% completely unprotected. The principal conclusions reached in the present study were: (a) the Brazilian state of Acre has an extremely rich bird fauna, although the number of species recorded should still increase as new surveys are conducted; (b) the Purus and Juruá rivers do not constitute physical barriers to the dispersal of most bird species resident in Acre; (c) the existence of zones of secondary contact not related to the state’s principal river systems supports the conclusion that factors other than physical barriers determine the present‐day pattern of distribution of some of the resident bird taxa in Acre; (d) that the number of “gap” and “partial gap” bird species in Acre is very low when the full protected area network is considered, although this number increases with the exclusion of indigenous reservations, and in particular, sustainable‐use conservation units; and (e) the only species completely unprotected by the state’s conservation network are those restricted to the campina and campinarana ecosystems of western Acre, which indicates a clear need for the establishment of one or more conservation units in this region with the specific aim of protecting this distinct type of ecosystem.
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