Fruit Availability and Peccary Frugivory in an Isolated Atlantic Forest Fragment: Effects on Peccary Ranging Behavior and Habitat Use

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe goal of this study was to examine seasonal frugivory by two sympatric peccary species (Tayassu pecari and T. tajacu) in a small (2178 ha), Atlantic Forest fragment on the inland plateau region of São Paulo State, Brazil. Fruit availability was determined with systematic ground surveys conducted over a 5‐yr period. Examining fruit availability trends for dry and wet seasons, we found that species diversity was greater in the wet season, but the total number and dry mass of fruits were higher in the dry season. Fruit abundance in the dry season was due to one palm, ‘jeriva’ (Syagrus romanzoffiana), which could be considered a keystone species at Caetetus Ecological Station as it also supported a diverse array of mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects. White‐lipped peccaries were the only ungulates that ate palmito fruits (Euterpe edulis) at Caetetus. They consumed ripe and unripe fruits and predated the seeds by chewing the pulp and seed. This occurred primarily during the dry season and was associated with a seasonal range shift and a preference for palmito habitat by the white‐lipped peccaries. The dominance of fruits in peccary diets (80% fruit items in scat) has management implications for other plateau forest fragments. Forest fragments with diminished fruit abundance or diversity, or lacking key species such as S. romanzoffiana or E. edulis, will not support the energetic requirements of the characteristically large and highly mobile white‐lipped peccary populations.