Differential impact of landscape transformation on pumas (Puma concolor) and jaguars (Panthera onca) in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest

CARLOS DE ANGELO; AGUSTÍN PAVIOLO; MARIO S. DI BITETTI

Congreso; International Joint Meeting of the Society of Conservation Biology & Africa Section of the Society for Conservation Biology; 2011

Jaguars (Panthera onca) and pumas (Puma concolor), being similar in size and behaviour, are the largest felids of the Neotropics. However, pumas appear to be more resistant to anthropogenic stressors. Our objective was to compare the response of both species to human impacts at a regional scale in the Upper Parana Atlantic Forest (UPAF), a highly modified region where both species had continuous distribution in the past. Pumas and jaguars presence-only data were used in an Ecological Niche Factor Analysis. From the total number of records, we re-sampled 95 records of each species 10 times to characterize and compare their habitat requirements, built habitat suitability maps, and examined interspecific differences in niche parameters related to the landscape characteristics. Both species showed high dependence on native forest and habitat protection, and low tolerance to anthropogenic environments. However, jaguars showed higher differences between their optimal habitat and the available landscape (mean ± SD marginality M=2.290±0.072) and lower tolerance to deviations from their optimal habitat (tolerance T=0.596±0.013) than pumas (M=1.358±0.067, p