Abstract
The brown-nosed coati (Nasua nasua) is a carnivorous species found in all the Brazilian biomes, some of which are endangered areas. The aim of this work was to determine the habitat use and selection, home range and core area of N. nasua in the Cerrado biome, central region of Tocantins, Brazil. The study was carried out in an area of approximately 20 000ha from May 2000 to July 2002. A total of seven box traps were placed in the area for 13 months, three of 11 captured animals were followed and monitored by radio-tracking during 13 months. The monitoring was conducted once a day, three times a week using a car and walking through the study area (radio-tracking and visual contact). The results demonstrate that these three males used more frequently the gallery forest formation, followed by cerrado and wetlands. The use of gallery forest by these animals indicated an habitat selection (Proportion test, z=12.98, p<0.01). Besides, adult males used the gallery forest more frequently (Fisher's exact test, p<0.01) and wetlands less frequently (Fisher's exact test, p<0.01) than juvenile males, without significant differences between animal ages for cerrado percentage of habitat use. Besides, results also showed a gallery forest selection by adult (Proportion test z=13.62, p<0.01) and juvenile (Proportion test z=2.68, p<0.01) males, and a wetland selection by the juvenile male (Proportion test z=3.90, p<0.01). The home ranges varied from 2.20 to 7.55km2 for the Minimum Convex Polygon 100% (MCP 100%) and from 4.38 to 13.32km2 for the Harmonic Mean 95% (HM 95%). The smallest home range overlap occurred between the adult males (Nm1 and Nm3), and the greatest between the juvenile Njm2 and the adult Nm1. The average of the core area (HM 75%) for the three monitored animals represented 21.29% of the home range calculated with HM 95%. No overlap between core areas was observed for adult males, but, it was an overlap between the core area of the juvenile male and its band with that of the two adult males. The present study provides new data on core area size and frequency habitat use by adult and juvenile males of N. nasua in the Brazilian Cerrado, that may support conservation efforts.
Highlights
The existing information for both biological and ecological aspects of this genus is related to N. narica. Kaufmann (1962) was one of the pioneers to carry out field
In the Cerrado biome, the greater part of wooded habitats is represented by the gallery forest vegetation type, and the results of this work confirm this fact
1 Core area overlap between of the Nm3 and the Njm2 occurred with the lowest core area that this animal present for Harmonic Mean (HM)
Summary
The existing information for both biological and ecological aspects of this genus is related to N. narica. Kaufmann (1962) was one of the pioneers to carry out field. In relation to the N. nasua, available information is principally on morphological characteristics (Decker 1991, Emmons & Feer 1997, Eisenberg & Redford 1999, Marinho-Filho et al 1998, Nowak 1999), behavior (Di Blanco & Hirsh 2006, Hirsh 2007, Romero & Aureli 2007, 2008) feeding habits (Schaller 1983, Redford & Stearman 1993, Gompper & Decker 1998, Beisiegel 2001, Alves-Costa et al 2004, Alves-Costa & Eterovick 2007, Beisiegel 2007, Hirsh 2009) and habitat use (Schaller 1983, Yanosky & Mercolli 1992, Brooks 1993, Emmons & Feer 1997, Marinho-Filho et al 1998, Beisiegel & Mantovani 2006), with only two studies on home range (Nakano-Oliveira & Monteiro-Filho 2002, Beisiegel & Mantovani 2006) These studies on the spatial movement of N. nasua provide information for anthropized areas of the Atlantic forest. The aim of this study was to highlight basic ecological aspects of the N. nasua species, like the determination of its habitat use, habitat selection, home range and core area for the Cerrado biome, in the central region of Tocantins State, Brazil
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