Abstract
We have gathered 21,353 records of 40 different medium- and large-sized species of mammals existing in the Atlantic Forest conservation units of Brazil, including full protection and sustainable use types of management. We have classified the conservation units by their irreplaceability in terms of their role in the protection of mammalian species. Most irreplaceable conservation units are concentrated in the southern and southeastern regions of Brazil, mainly in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Paraná. Our data show that over and above the area of the conservation unit or its type of use, protection of its surroundings appears to be of most consequence. Therefore, it is essential to develop effective mosaic governance mechanisms that include protected areas and different types of land use. However, it is also necessary to establish common ground that allows the coexistence of human economic demands and wildlife preservation.
Highlights
The recent loss of biodiversity caused by anthropogenic activity has reached alarming levels, to the point of resembling the great extinctions of the past
We focused on a wide variety of mammal species, and addressed the entire Brazilian Atlantic Forest, which is rare among studies [26,27]
One good example was the number of records obtained through the Urubu System (2349), a cellphone application developed by the Federal University of Lavras, Minas Gerais that registers Brazilian road kills
Summary
The recent loss of biodiversity caused by anthropogenic activity has reached alarming levels, to the point of resembling the great extinctions of the past. Focusing only on the extinction of species is to ignore the decline in populations before their complete disappearance [4,5] These extirpations lead to the loss of ecological interactions [6,7], which inevitably leads to changes in ecosystem functions [2,8,9] and may have short- and long-term implications [10,11]. In this study we focused on the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s hottest biodiversity hotspots [14] This is partially the result of its wide latitudinal, longitudinal and altitudinal range, which has favored high diversity and endemism [15], and partially due to its extensive past deforestation, which left only a few large fragments in inaccessible places [16], isolated from one another. This biome continues to suffer increasing anthropogenic pressure [17,18,19], such as the expansion of agriculture [20]
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