Background <p>Tropical areas, particularly Brazil, are home to a significant portion of the world’s biodiversity, with the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (BAF) being a crucial biome recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot. However, the BAF has been subject to severe degradation due to anthropogenic activities, resulting in extensive habitat loss and fragmentation. These changes have prompted numerous studies on their effects on biodiversity, focusing on forest fragments and protected areas. Despite this research, there is a notable lack of meta-data on biodiversity in human-modified landscapes within the BAF- where only 31% of the land remains as native forest. Most of the biome has been transformed by human activities, primarily for pasture and agriculture. By recognizing these knowledge gaps, researchers have begun investigating biodiversity in anthropogenically altered landscapes, to better understand species’ responses to human-induced changes and inform conservation policies. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to answer the following primary question: “<i>What is the diversity of birds and mammal species in agricultural fields and their adjacent areas of natural vegetation</i>?” We aimed to address this question by creating a systematic map summarizing current knowledge about avian and mammalian species’ presence in the BAF’s agricultural matrix. This research also aimed (i) to identify common species in agricultural landscapes, (ii) to compare species richness in-crop (inside the agricultural field) and off-crop (non-cultivated areas outside the agricultural field), (iii) to determine crops with high species visitation, and (iv) to highlight areas for future research.</p> Methods <p>We conducted a systematic literature map on bird and mammal biodiversity in agricultural landscapes within the BAF and adjacent natural vegetation areas. The search covered Web of Knowledge, Scopus, the National Library of Medicine, and the “<i>Biblioteca Digital Brasileira</i>” (Brazilian Digital Library) database for grey literature (dissertations and theses). Citation records were surveyed based on predefined criteria through title/abstract screening and full-text analysis. Eligible publications were used for meta-data coding and systematic map construction.</p> Review findings <p>Our systematic map identified 207 eligible publications included in the final evidence base. Research effort was distributed across taxonomic groups, with 78 studies focusing on birds, 126 on non-flying mammals (NFM), and 22 on bats. The most frequently studied agricultural systems were pasture and eucalyptus, followed by sugarcane, coffee, cacao, rubber tree, pinus, grape, araucaria, and corn. Extracted meta-data showed that studies reported species occurrences in both agricultural fields and adjacent natural areas. The map revealed significant knowledge clusters and gaps, particularly regarding the distribution of research across different crop types and the inclusion of species with varying conservation statuses.</p> Conclusion <p>This systematic map identifies 846 species across 48 crop types in BAF agricultural landscapes, potentially indicating their use by wildlife; however, further quantitative synthesis is necessary to assess the relative importance of these areas. By mapping knowledge clusters and gaps—such as underrepresented regions and specific crop-taxa associations—this work provides a foundation for future systematic reviews and informs the development of more targeted environmental risk assessments and conservation policies.</p>