Abstract
Carnivore mammals and their relation with habitat diversity in Aparados da Serra National Park, southern Brazil. A survey of carnivore mammals was accomplished in Aparados da Serra National Park from February 1998 to March 2000. The park has 10,250 ha and is considered a biodiversity core area of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve in the Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The landscape is characterized by relatively well preserved relicts of Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze forest, grasslands and Atlantic Forest, which have contributed for the survival of endangered carnivore mammals. The National Park was divided in a grid of 16 km 2 cells using a 1:50,000 scale map. The animals were recorded using indirect methods, by identifying signs (scats, tracks) and direct observation in 2.5 km long and 5 m wide transects, with 10 replicates in each grid cell. Interviews with local people were also used to confirm the animal presence. A total of 13 species was recorded: Procyon cancrivorus (Cuvier, 1798), Pseudalopex gymnocercus (G. Fischer, 1814), Leopardus pardalis (Linnaeus, 1758) and Cerdocyon thous (Linnaeus, 1766) were the most frequent species registered. Nasua nasua (Linnaeus 1766), Herpailurus yaguarondi (Lacepede, 1809), Chrysocyon brachyurus (Illiger, 1815), Eira barbara (Linnaeus, 1758), Leopardus sp., Puma concolor (Linnaeus, 1771), Galictis cuja (Molina, 1782), Conepatus chinga (Molina, 1892) and Lontra longicaudis (Olfers, 1818) showed lower frequencies. The Park presented areas with significant differences (Mantel Test, P< 0.05) in species richness and composition related to habitat classes. Areas with high habitat richness presented high species richness. The Araucaria forest was the habitat that presented the higher carnivore richness. The border areas of the Park are influenced by several environmental degradation factors that could be affecting the distribution of carnivores.
Highlights
A survey of carnivore mammals was accomplished in Aparados da Serra National Park from February 1998
which have contributed for the survival of endangered carnivore mammals
The National Park was divided in a grid of 16 km2 cells using a
Summary
O Parque Nacional dos Aparados da Serra, administrado pelo Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renováveis (IBAMA), localiza-se na porção noroeste do RS, abrangendo os campos e borda do planalto. O levantamento das espécies de carnívoros do PNAS foi efetuado em transecções fixas em faixas (RUDRAN et al, 1996) de 2,5 km extensão e com 2 a 5 m de largura percorridas em caminhadas, a cavalo e com carro para alguns percursos noturnos Os percursos realizados distribuíram-se em diferentes áreas do Parque na porção do Planalto, com orientação definida pelos pontos cardeais através do uso de bússola. Cada quadrícula foi considerada uma unidade amostral onde foram estabelecidas 10 repetições com transecções em faixas de 2,5 km de extensão e 2 a 5 metros de largura. As trilhas utilizadas e pontos de ocorrência dos animais foram registrados em protocolos de campo, sendo anotadas as informações do local de ocorrência, número da quadrícula, dimensões dos rastros e das fezes dos animais, sendo geo-referenciados com receptor GPS.
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