The Greater rhea-human conflict in agricultural landscapes: implications for conservation of the last large herbivore of the southern Pampas.

PEDRANA J.; BERNAD, L.; MACEIRA, N.; ISACCH, J.P.

EMU

CSIRO PUBLISHING

Lugar: Collingwood; Año: 2015 vol. 4 p. 335 - 344

0158-4197

Southeastern South America (SESA) grasslands are a representative biome of the southern Neotropics and have been the scenario of the major transformation of native habitats of South America given by the livestock industry, arable agriculture, and afforestation. SESA host populations of large herbivores such as Greater rheas (Rhea americana), which it is currently the subject of serious conservation concern and has been a source of historical conflict with agricultural interests. Here, we assess the relative effects of environmental and anthropogenic predictors on Greater rhea distribution in the southern Pampas at different spatial scales, and produce distributions maps of the species using habitat-suitability models. We performed vehicle surveys in southern Buenos Aires province, in two years, surveying 9200 km of roads and recording 146 sightings. Generalized Additive Models were used to model the presence/absence of the species in 250-m cells. The habitat suitability models suggest that areas of high elevation surrounded by water bodies and landscape composed of grazing fields and native habitats are preferred environments; while centers of human activity have a negative impact on species distribution.