Fragment shape and size, landscape permeability and fragmentation level as predictors of primate occupancy in a region of Brazilian Cerrado

Thallita Oliveira Grande,Fabiano Rodrigues Melo,Raony Macedo Alencar,Paulo Pinheiro Ribeiro

doi:10.4025/actascibiolsci.v42i1.48339

Abstract

Human activities result in the formation of a mosaic of forest patches within a non-habitat matrix. The response of the local biodiversity to changes in land-use may occur at different scales. It is important to evaluate the effects of the attributes of both the patches and the surrounding landscape on the occupancy of forest patches by animal populations. Here, we assessed the predictive potential of local (basal area, tree density), patch (size, shape) and landscape scale (total area of forest, number of patches, matrix permeability, patch proximity) variables on the occupancy of forest patches by the syntopic primates Alouatta caraya, Sapajus libidinosus and Callithrix penicillata in the city of Goiânia in the Cerrado region of central Brazil. We used playback to survey primate populations in 22 focal patches and assessed the landscape within a 1000 m buffer zone around each site. In A. caraya, occupancy was influenced by the shape of the focal patches, the amount of forest and fragmentation level of the landscape. Focal patch size and the permeability of the matrix were the principal determinants of the occupancy of S. libidinosus. None of the predictors influenced patch occupancy in C. penicillata, and the structure of the vegetation did not influence occupancy in any of the species. The preservation of as many forest patches as possible, both large and small, as well as gallery forests, and the enhancement of matrix permeability will be essential for the long-term conservation of the syntopic primates of the Cerrado of central Brazil.

Highlights

Human activities and increasing rates of urbanization have led to the progressive degradation of the environment and the loss of natural vegetation, which converts continuous forest cover into a fragmented landscape dominated by small and isolated patches of forest (Soulsbury & White, 2015; Goudie, 2018)
We investigated the effects of local, patch, and landscape scale attributes on the occupancy of forests by the black-and-gold howler monkey (Alouatta caraya), the brown capuchin (Sapajus libidinosus), and the blacktufted marmoset (Callithrix penicillata) within a rural-urban gradient
The most common species was C. penicillata, which was recorded in 91% (n = 20) of the focal patches, followed by S. libidinosus and A. caraya, which were both found in 45% of the patches (n = 10) patches (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Human activities and increasing rates of urbanization have led to the progressive degradation of the environment and the loss of natural vegetation, which converts continuous forest cover into a fragmented landscape dominated by small and isolated patches of forest (Soulsbury & White, 2015; Goudie, 2018). This process provokes ecological disturbance at different habitat scales (Lyra-Jorge, Ribeiro, Ciocheti, Tambosi, & Pivello, 2010). Depending on the social system and dispersal dynamics of the species, individuals may either disperse systematically from their natal group or disperse secondarily between groups (Izar et al, 2012; Jack & Fedigan, 2004)

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