Abstract
ABSTRACT The objectives of this study were to determine the richness of medium and large mammal species in two protected areas of the Espinhaco Mountain Range, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil; and to investigate the factors affecting the occurrence of those species. To accomplish that we placed 49 camera traps activated by heat and motion at Rio Preto State Park (RPSP) and 48 at Sempre Vivas National Park (SVNP). We also collected data on three environmental variables: vegetation physiognomy, elevation and wildfire frequency, to evaluate the influence of these factors on species richness and use intensity (inferred from camera trap detection rate) by large mammals. We recorded 23 large mammal species in the two parks combined. The lowest species richness was found at the rupestrian habitat of RPSP, and in the open grasslands of SVNP. The forest and savannah physiognomies were used more intensively by large mammals. Species richness was higher and use was greater at lower elevations of RPSP. In SVNP, fire frequency did not affect species richness or use intensity. The savannah habitat had very similar richness compared to the forests of the two protected areas. The high species richness and use intensity observed in these forest habitats highlights the importance of riparian environments in the Cerrado biome. The highest species richness and use intensity observed at low elevation follows patterns found in the literature, probably due to variation in the vegetation, which results in greater resource availability. Although rupestrian habitats at high elevations of the Espinhaco Range are known to have a high degree of endemism for some taxa, large mammal richness and use were not high in this habitat. These results indicate that the protection of native vegetation at lower elevations is crucial for the long-term conservation of large mammals in the Espinhaco Range.
Highlights
Understanding which factors affect species richness is a challenge for ecologists
Considering the high environmental heterogeneity found in the Cerrado and the relevance of protected areas for the conservation of large mammals, the objectives of this study were to determine large mammal species richness in two protected areas (PAs) of the Espinhaço Mountain Range and to investigate the factors affecting the occurrence of these species
Total species richness recorded here represents 70% and 55% of all large mammals known to occur at the Espinhaço Range (Lessa et al 2008) and the Brazilian Cerrado (Marinho-Filho et al 2002), respectively
Summary
Understanding which factors affect species richness is a challenge for ecologists. Resource availability in the ecosystem, the degree of specialization of species and the coexistence of species that share the same resources are key determinants of local species richness (MacArthur 1972). A review of studies on environmental heterogeneity and diversity found that 85% of the publications arrived at a positive correlation between heterogeneous ecosystems and species richness (Tews et al 2004), including mammals (e.g., Southwell et al 1999, Williams et al 2002). Habitat heterogeneity allows the coexistence of competitor species, contributing to local species richness. Schuette et al (2013) observed that carnivore mammals in Africa responded in different ways to environmental factors, and noted that this variation could be responsible for the high local diversity of carnivores. Environmental heterogeneity is regarded as one of the main factors allowing the coexistence of two large Neotropical predators, the jaguar, Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758), and the puma, Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771) (Sollmann et al 2012).
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