Mammal's database for a Brazilian planning approach (original) (raw)
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Conservation interests of spatial distribution modelling applied to large vagile neotropical mammals
Tropical Conservation Science
Species Distribution Models (SDMs) have become increasingly useful for conservation issues. Initially designed to predict distributions of species from incomplete datasets, SDMs may also identify environmental conditions associated with higher occurrences and abundances of widely distributed taxa. Using sighting records of 15 widely distributed mammals from French Guiana, including primates, carnivores, rodents and ungulates, we used three SDMs --based on (i) entropy, (ii) genetic algorithm, (iii) Mahalanobis distance -- to investigate relationships between species occurrence and predictive variables such as vegetation, biogeographic units, climate, and disturbance index. Maximal entropy procedures resulted in more accurate projected conditions: the accuracy of the predicted distributions was higher than 90% in nine species among the 15 tested, and predicted occurrences were correlated to fieldmeasured abundances for nine species. The Genetic algorithm implemented with GARP had lowe...
Natureza & Conservacao, 2011
Herein we identified the geographic location of protected areas (PAs) critical for strengthening mammalian conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve (RMBA) by assessing sites of particular importance for mammal diversity using different biodiversity criteria (richness, rarity, vulnerability) and a connectivity index. Although 95% of mammal species were represented by PAs, most of them had less than 10% of their distribution range protected by these areas. A total of 94 critical areas for mammal conservation-representing 49.60% of the total PAs were identified. Most of these areas were located at endangered ecoregions. We recommend that conservationists and policy makers should identify critical areas in order to guarantee biodiversity fluxes among landscapes, and enhance the connectivity between PAs to increase biodiversity protection and conservation. Knowledge about the location of critical areas may encourage managers and policy makers to develop specific programs to strengthen mammal biodiversity protection, especially for threatened species.
Nature Conservation Research
Protected Areas, including conservation units (UCs), are among the main strategies for maintaining biodiversity worldwide. Their management plans are an essential instrument for the suitable functioning of these areas. In this context, the present study analyses the Brazilian management plans to identify differences between their goals, and to investigate target biological groups for conservation. We identified 2544 Protected Areas in Brazil, of which only 496 (19.5%) have management plans. However, only 62% of these management plans (307) were fully available. The category with the fewest management plans is the Wildlife Refuge (only 5.95% of the Protected Areas with management plans) and the least represented biome, in terms of a number of management plans, is the Caatinga one, with 10.35% of Protected Areas with management plans. Among the categories of UCs, the Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) stands out, with 85 units with management plan. This category is among the most...
Journal of Threatened Taxa
Deforestation and habitat fragmentation affect to a great extent larger wild mammals, which require large areas to establish their populations. These mammals can have important functions in the structure and dynamics of tropical forests, acting as seed dispersers, herbivory regulators, and umbrella species. In the present paper, we characterize the community of medium and large wild mammals in a semi-deciduous seasonal forest fragment, a denominated IB Forest (Institute of Biosciences) in Edgardia Experimental Farm, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. By adopting sand plots on three trails as the main method, we identified the occurrence of nine species, besides the occurrence of one species by direct visualization. Some of these are in national red lists — Leopardus pardalis and Puma concolor are listed as threatened and Sapajus cf. nigritus as Near Threatened in São Paulo State; Puma concolor is also listed as Vulnerable at the national level. Thus, we emphasize the imp...
2019
The Cerrado biome is the second largest natural vegetation type existing in Brazil after the Amazon, covering 91% of the State of Tocantins, with 30% of the territory changed as a result of the expansion of economic development areas. The substitution of natural vegetation means habitat loss on species, and may put the survival of medium and large-sized mammal species under extinction risk. These species represent significant energy demands and high requirements of area within the habitat. This study aims to assess the species composition and the frequency of use of physiognomic types of vegetation by medium and large-sized mammals. The study was conducted from 2001 to 2011 using a set of complementary and alternative techniques in fragments of seven different physiognomic types of vegetation. Fourth-seven medium and large-sized mammals were registered. This record corresponds to 92% of species already described within the biome, and five additional species to those registered in the data base of the State of Tocantins. Fourteen of these species are at certain degree of threat of extinction. The most used physiognomic types of vegetation in terms of canopy cover were Cerradao, Typical Cerrado, Riparian Forest and Dense Cerrado, and the less used were Gallery Forest, Campo Sujo and Vereda.
Species Distribution Modeling for Conservation Purposes
Natureza & Conservação, 2012
Species distribution models (SDMs) can be useful for different conservation purposes. We discuss the importance of fitting spatial scale and using current records and relevant predictors aiming conservation. We choose jaguar (Panthera onca) as a target species and Brazil and Atlantic Forest biome as study areas. We tested two different extents (continent and biome) and resolutions (~4 Km and ~1 Km) in Maxent with 186 records and 11 predictors (bioclimatic, elevation, land-use and landscape structure). All models presented satisfactory AUC values (>0.70) and low omission errors (<23%). SDMs were scale-sensitive as the use of reduced extent implied in significant gains to model performance generating more constrained and real predictive distribution maps. Continental-scale models performed poorly in predicting potential current jaguar distribution, but they reached the historic distribution. Specificity increased significantly from coarse to finer-scale models due to the reduction of overprediction. The variability of environmental space (E-space) differed for most of climatic variables between continental and biome-scale and the representation of the E-space by predictors differed significantly (t = 2.42, g.l.= 9, P < 0.05). Refining spatial scale, incorporating landscape variables and improving the quality of biological data are essential for improving model prediction for conservation purposes.
Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências, 2021
One of the various concerns of conservation biology is determining why certain species are more threatened than others. In this study, we aim to relate the national conservation status of Brazilian mammals with the taxonomic group to which they belong and with three of their intrinsic traits: body mass, diet, and litter size. We compiled a database containing the species, their status, and their attributes, and a multiple correspondence analysis was applied to identify relationships between traits and status. The two groups that presented the highest relative frequencies of threatened species were "ungulates" and Carnivora. Additionally, mammals with body mass of 10 kg or more and with carnivorous diet had a higher relative frequency of threatened taxa. We found not only a strong relationship between intrinsic traits and conservation status, but also among the traits themselves, which highlights the role of the "group" variable as one of the best predictors of the risk that a given species be threatened. We believe our study has a broad potential for the conservation of species at the regional level, especially regarding the species currently classified as Data Deficient, and for identifying which species are prone to becoming threatened.
The Neotropical region currently harbors 8 recognized species of small cats, including the margay (Leopardus wiedii) and jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi). These similar-sized species have broad geographic distributions and commonly occur in sympatry. We constructed species occurrence databases and used the maximum entropy (Maxent) modeling approach to develop models of habitat suitability for each of these species. We identified the environmental predictors with the highest importance for species occurrence and evaluated how they influence habitat suitability for both wild cats. Variables related to temperature and precipitation were good predictors of species occurrence, with both cats responding similarly to them. However, margay showed higher variation in habitat suitability depending on local climatic predictors. The estimated models indicated high niche similarity (> 76%) between these cats, but despite this we identified different areas with the most favorable conditions for each species' occurrence. Approximately 50% and 72% of the entire suitable area were estimated as being moderately to highly suitable for margay and jaguarundi, respectively, with the margay model comprising a higher proportion of forest environments in comparison to that of the jaguarundi. These findings will be relevant in the context of conservation planning when indicating the priority areas for their long-term preservation. A região Neotropical possui atualmente oito espécies de pequenos felídeos, incluindo o gato-maracajá (Leopardus wiedii) e o jaguarundi (Puma yagouaroundi). Estas duas espécies apresentam ampla distribuição geográfica nos neotrópicos, ocorrendo geralmente em simpatria e compartilhando vários aspectos biogeográficos. Neste trabalho, construímos um banco com dados de ocorrência destas espécies e usamos o método de máxima entropia (Maxent) para obter modelos de adequabilidade de habitat para cada uma delas. Os preditores ambientais com maior percentual de contribuição aos modelos gerados foram identificados, sendo ainda avaliado como cada um deles influencia na adequabilidade de habitat estimada para as espécies. Variáveis associadas com temperatura e precipitação foram identificadas como importantes para a ocorrência das espécies, com os dois felídeos respondendo similarmente a elas. No entanto, para o gato-maracajá foi identificada uma maior variação
PloS one, 2014
The jaguar, Panthera onca, is a top predator with the extant population found within the Brazilian Caatinga biome now known to be on the brink of extinction. Designing new conservation units and potential corridors are therefore crucial for the long-term survival of the species within the Caatinga biome. Thus, our aims were: 1) to recognize suitable areas for jaguar occurrence, 2) to delineate areas for jaguar conservation (PJCUs), 3) to design corridors among priority areas, and 4) to prioritize PJCUs. A total of 62 points records of jaguar occurrence and 10 potential predictors were analyzed in a GIS environment. A predictive distributional map was obtained using Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) as performed by the Maximum Entropy (Maxent) algorithm. Areas equal to or higher than the median suitability value of 0.595 were selected as of high suitability for jaguar occurrence and named as Priority Jaguar Conservation Units (PJCU). Ten PJCUs with sizes varying from 23.6 km 2 to 4,311.0 km 2 were identified. Afterwards, we combined the response curve, as generated by SDM, and expert opinions to create a permeability matrix and to identify least cost corridors and buffer zones between each PJCU pair. Connectivity corridors and buffer zone for jaguar movement included an area of 8.884,26 km 2 and the total corridor length is about 160.94 km. Prioritizing criteria indicated the PJCU representing c.a. 68.61% of the total PJCU area (PJCU # 1) as of high priority for conservation and connectivity with others PJCUs (PJCUs # 4, 5 and 7) desirable for the long term survival of the species. In conclusion, by using the jaguar as a focal species and combining SDM and expert opinion we were able to create a valid framework for practical conservation actions at the Caatinga biome. The same approach could be used for the conservation of other carnivores. Citation: Morato RG, Ferraz KMPMdB, de Paula RC, Campos CBd (2014) Identification of Priority Conservation Areas and Potential Corridors for Jaguars in the Caatinga Biome, Brazil. PLoS ONE 9(4): e92950.