Merulaxis ater

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	AVES	PASSERIFORMES	RHINOCRYPTIDAE

Scientific Name:

Merulaxis ater

Species Authority:

Lesson, 1831

Common Name/s:

English

–

Slaty Bristlefront

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Near Threatened ver 3.1

Year Published:

2012

Assessor/s:

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s:

Butchart, S. & Symes, A.

Contributor/s:

Justification:
This species is listed as Near Threatened, as it has a moderately small population which is suspected to be declining owing to habitat loss. These declines are predicted to continue into the future, unless remedial conservation measures are taken.

History:

2008	–	Near Threatened
2004	–	Near Threatened
1988	–	Near Threatened

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	Merulaxis ater occurs in south Bahia (one 19th century record), Espírito Santo (few records), Rio de Janeiro, east São Paulo, east Paraná and east Santa Catarina (two records), south-east Brazil.
Countries:	Native: Brazil
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'uncommon' (Stotz et al. 1996).
Population Trend:	Decreasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is uncommon to locally relatively common in thickets within montane and lowland evergreen forest and mature secondary woodland, typically at 800-1,800 m but locally to 100 m (Ridgely and Tudor 1994, Parker et al. 1996, Naka et al. 2011), although it is almost entirely montane in Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro (Sick 1993, Ridgely and Tudor 1994).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Agricultural conversion and deforestation for mining and plantation production historically threatened its lowland forests. Current key threats are urbanisation, industrialisation, agricultural expansion, colonisation and associated road-building (Dinerstein et al. 1995, Fearnside 1996). Its montane forests have suffered less destruction, but isolated forests in the north of its range have virtually disappeared due to the expansion of pasture and cultivation, and remaining patches are under pressure from clearance and fires spreading from cultivated areas (Gonzaga et al. 1995).

Major Threat(s):

Agricultural conversion and deforestation for mining and plantation production historically threatened its lowland forests. Current key threats are urbanisation, industrialisation, agricultural expansion, colonisation and associated road-building (Dinerstein et al. 1995, Fearnside 1996). Its montane forests have suffered less destruction, but isolated forests in the north of its range have virtually disappeared due to the expansion of pasture and cultivation, and remaining patches are under pressure from clearance and fires spreading from cultivated areas (Gonzaga et al. 1995).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Conservation Actions Underway Conservation Actions Proposed Ensure that remaining areas of suitable habitat receive adequate protection. Repeat surveys of known sites to determine rates of range contraction and population trends.

Conservation Actions:

Conservation Actions Underway
Conservation Actions Proposed
Ensure that remaining areas of suitable habitat receive adequate protection. Repeat surveys of known sites to determine rates of range contraction and population trends.

Citation:	BirdLife International 2012. Merulaxis ater. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 22 May 2013.
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