IBS   24490
INSTITUTO DE BIOLOGIA SUBTROPICAL
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
LOSING THE APEX PREDATOR: AN EVALUATION OF THE REMAINING JAGUAR POPULATIONS OF THE ATLANTIC FOREST OF SOUTH AMERICA
Autor/es:
PAVIOLO, AGUSTIN; FERRAZ K.; DE ANGELO, CARLOS D.; MORATO, RONALDO; SRBEKARAUJO A.; LIMA, F.; BEISEGEL B.; VELÁZQUEZ M.; XAVIER DA SILVA M.; SANA D.; CULLEN L.; CRAWSHAW P.; CUNHA DE PAULA R.; JORGE M.L.; MARTINEZ PARDO J.; GALETTI P.; DI BITETTI M.S.; SOUZA A.S.M.; CRUZ P.; VERÓNICA QUIROGA; NAKANO E.; RAMÍREZ PINTO F.; FERNÁNDEZ S.; COSTA S.; AIDE T.M.; AMORIM E.; EIZIRIK E.; AZEVEDO F.; PERRILLI M.
Lugar:
Montpellier
Reunión:
Congreso; 27th International Congress for Conservation Biology - 4th European Congress for Conservation Biology; 2015
Institución organizadora:
Society for Conservation Biology
Resumen:
The Atlantic Forest (AF), a global biodiversity hotspot in eastern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and northern Argentina, has lost ≈90% of its range. In an international effort, we analyzed the AF´s jaguar population status and proposed a spatial prioritization for conservation actions. We used jaguar records and Maxent to develop a habitat suitability model and to estimate the area still occupied by jaguars. Using SECR models, we estimated jaguar densities from 29 cameratrap surveys in different areas, and calculated population size of the occupied fragments. We defined the AF Jaguar Conservation Units (JCU) based on size of the habitat fragment, presence of the species, confirmation of female presence, and population size. We developed a least cost corridor analysis to find the best options for corridors among the JCUs. Our analyses show that 85% of the original habitat has been lost, 8% is marginal, and only 7% of the AF is suitable for the species. The jaguar is present in only 2.8% of the region and potentially present in other 1.2%. Densities in areas where jaguar still occurs were low and varied from 0.622.41 ind/100km , but we could not estimate densities in 21 surveys due to the scarcity of records, suggesting even lower jaguar densities in some areas. We estimate the total jaguar population in the AF to be between 130 and 270 individuals. We identified seven JCUs and seven potential JCUs, but only three JCUs can sustain a population size of >50 individuals. Although some JCU could be connected by corridors, many of the remaining occupied fragments are isolated. We documented a dramatic jaguar habitat loss and fragmentation in the AF, but the species disappeared also in areas with good habitat, suggesting that human induced mortality is also a major drive for jaguar decline. The species is under high risk if urgent measures are not taken. Disappearance of jaguars and its ecological role will have unpredictable consequences for this biodiversity hotspot.