INVESTIGADORES
CAMINO micaela
artículos
Título:
Using occupancy models to assess the direct and indirect impacts of agricultural expansion on species? populations
Autor/es:
SEMPER-PASCUAL ASUNCIÓN; DECARRE JULIETA; BAUMANN MATHIAS; CAMINO MICAELA; DI BLANCO YAMIL; BIBIANA GOMEZ VALENCIA; KUEMMERLE TOBIAS
Revista:
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
Editorial:
SPRINGER
Referencias:
Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2020
ISSN:
0960-3115
Resumen:
Land-use change is a global threat to biodiversity, but how land-use change affectsspecies beyond the direct effect of habitat loss remains poorly understood. Wedeveloped an approach to isolate and map the direct and indirect effects of agriculturalexpansion on species of conservation concern, using the threatened giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla ) in the Gran Chaco as an example. We reconstructedanteater occupancy change between 1985 and 2015 by fitting single-seasonoccupancy models with contemporary camera-trap data and backcasting the models to1985 and 2000 land-cover/use maps. Based on this, we compared the area of forestloss (direct effect of agricultural expansion) with the area where forests remained butoccupancy still declined (indirect effect of agricultural expansion). Anteater occupancydecreased substantially since 1985, particularly after 2000 when agriculture expandedrapidly. Between 1985 and 2015, ~64,000 km² of forest disappeared, yet occupancydeclined across a larger area (~102,000 km²), extending far into seeminglyuntransformed habitat. This suggests that widespread sink habitat has emerged due toagricultural land-use change, and that species may lose their habitat through direct andindirect effects of agricultural expansion, highlighting the urgent need for broad-scaleconservation planning in the Chaco. Appropriate management responses could proactively protect more habitat where populations are stable, and restore habitat oraddress causes of mortality in areas where declines occur. Our work also highlightshow occupancy modelling combined with remote sensing can help to detect the directand indirect effects of agricultural expansion, providing guidance for spatially targetingconservation strategies to halt extinctions.