A new methodological approach to assess the conservation status of the Bare-faced Curassow (Crax fasciolata) at the southern end of its distributional range.

ZALAZAR, SOFIA; ADRIAN S. DI GIACOMO; BENITEZ, ALEJANDRO

Puerto Iguazú

Congreso; Ornithological Congress of the Americas; 2017

Aves Argentinas

The Bare-faced Curassow (Crax fasciolata) inhabits the forest of eastern Bolivia,Paraguay, northeastern Argentina and south-central Brazil, with an extent of occurrence (EO) of 4.720.000 Km2. In 2014, the Bare-faced curassow was categorized as?Vulnerable? at global level by IUCN, on the basis of a study that suggests that in the next 35 years, the species will lose 24-36% of its habitat due to the deforestation of the Amazon forest. Nevertheless, their records in the Amazon are scarce, and there are no population estimates in other ecoregions. Because the main threats of cracids are habitat loss and hunting, we modeled the distributional range of the Bare-faced Curassow, including these variables in the southern limit of the species. We combined the results of an occupancy model, the availability of habitat and the areas of current presence known from direct observations and surveys to local people. The occupancy model indicated the presence of the Bare-faced Curassow in gallery forests is negatively affected by the village proximity. Occupancy values of >0.45 were reached from 6 km of populated areas. The EO estimated by the IUCN for Argentina is 126.585 km2, and our results suggest that the area of occupancy (AO) of the Bare-faced Curassow is 8.976 Km2 (7% of EO), of which 1.5% is protected. We propose to combine the methods of ecological niche modeling to estimate EO, along with occupancy models that take into account the threats to estimate AO, to re-evaluate the conservation status of C. fasciolata and other cracids.