Assessing distribution and conservation potential for the Muscovy duck (Cairina moschata) in Argentina

Alejandro Alberto Schaaf,Griet A.E Cuyckens,Daniela Gomez,Ever Tallei,Luis Osvaldo Rivera,Natalia Politi

doi:10.4013/nbc.2018.133.01

Abstract

The Muscovy duck ( Cairina moschata , Anatidae) is a waterbird with a wide distribution in America, reaching Argentina at its southernmost limit, where the species was categorized as threatened. In this study, we develop a species distribution model to analyze habitat suitability for the species in Argentina and assess its potential for geographic conservation in the country. Results show that northern Argentina offers environmentally suitable habitats for the species. At present, the Muscovy duck is not adequately protected in Argentina and although a quarter of its suitable habitat has already been lost due to human-induced changes in land-cover, the country still has a conservation potential since we have detected suitable habitats inside protected areas, where the species has not been previously recorded, and the species dependence on water lines offer additional conservation opportunities. We suggest carrying out conservation actions outside the current system of protected areas, in areas with high habitat suitability, and along water lines, involving private owners in conservation actions. There is also a need for further field research to confirm the duck’s presence in the potential areas and to reveal more detailed ecological information about its habitat needs. Keywords: suitable habitat, potential distribution models, waterbirds, threatened birds, anatidae, MaxEnt.

Highlights

Nowadays, extinction rates are a thousand times higher than natural ones, leading wildlife to a crisis state and threatening biodiversity (De Vos et al, 2015)
The results show that habitat suitability decreases with increasing distance to water lines, and it falls abruptly at 111 km approximately (Figure 2a)
We only used slightly more than half (53%) of the presence records we recompiled

Summary

Introduction

Extinction rates are a thousand times higher than natural ones, leading wildlife to a crisis state and threatening biodiversity (De Vos et al, 2015). Animal populations located at the edges of distribution face a higher probability of extinction than populations inside the core areas (Rodríguez, 2002). This characteristic prioritized peripheral species within the field of conservation (Quiroga and Premoli, 2013). Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions basically relates the presence of a species with the associated environmental conditions to predict habitat suitability for the species of interest (Anderson and Gonzalez, 2011; Pearson et al, 2007; Philips and Dudik, 2008). As a result of the spatial information generated by the models, one can obtain the key factors affecting the distribution of rare or little-known species (Miola et al, 2011; Morales, 2012) to schedule management and conservation planning. Describing distribution patterns is among the most important topics in ecology and biogeography (Myers and Giller, 2013) and it is a previous step to conservation planning

Methods

Results

Conclusion