UPM Forestal Oriental - Social and Enviromental Report 2014

bracho (Paysandú), special grassland management is provi- ded to promote the improvement of the habitat for grassland birds, particularly chestnut see- deaters. These birds need tall pastures to nest and feed. In 2014, again several specimens were detected in the two mana- ged sites. • The areas destined for conserva- tion of Yatay palm (Butia yatay) are working effectively. Monito- ring was carried out of the popu- lation in the El Ombú area, con- firming an increase in the popu- lation of juveniles specimens compared with 2005. • In Treinta y Tres (Quiebrayugos Establishment) we monitored straight-billed reedhaunter (Lim- noctites rectirostris) populations and their environments. This is an endemic species of this re- gion, included on the SNAP list of priority species and which lives exclusively in the humid environments of Eryngium pan- danifolium wetlands. • We compared the diversity of arthropods (arachnids), reptiles and small mammals in between adjacent planted and unplanted areas. The diversity of arachnids was higher than that observed in other parts of the country and no significant differences were seen between the two situations. The diversity of scarce reptiles and the captured micromammals mainly belong to the Cricetidae (mice) family, belonging to se- ven of the fifteen species present in Uruguay, within which the field mouse (Akodon azarae) was the most abundant species. In some of the evaluated para- meters we observed differences between the areas studied. • We detected the presence of cha- rismatic species such as the Yer- ba Mate (Ilex paraguariensis) in Tacuarembó (Cerro del Arbolito) and Cerro Largo (Arévalo). • The known natural distribution of tree species Trichilia elegans (Paysandú) and Nectandra an- gustifolia (Tacuarembó) were extended.

51