Medium and large-sized mammals in an Atlantic Forest fragment of Brazil: recording of threatened species

Caroline Marques Maia,Renata Cristina Batista Fonseca,Telma Regina Alves,Vinícius Nunes Alves

doi:10.11609/jott.4480.11.3.13278-13286

Caroline Marques Maia, Renata Cristina Batista Fonseca + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4480.11.3.13278-13286

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Abstract

Deforestation and habitat fragmentation affect to a great extent larger wild mammals, which require large areas to establish their populations. These mammals can have important functions in the structure and dynamics of tropical forests, acting as seed dispersers, herbivory regulators, and umbrella species. In the present paper, we characterize the community of medium and large wild mammals in a semi-deciduous seasonal forest fragment, a denominated IB Forest (Institute of Biosciences) in Edgardia Experimental Farm, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil. By adopting sand plots on three trails as the main method, we identified the occurrence of nine species, besides the occurrence of one species by direct visualization. Some of these are in national red lists — Leopardus pardalis and Puma concolor are listed as threatened and Sapajus cf. nigritus as Near Threatened in São Paulo State; Puma concolor is also listed as Vulnerable at the national level. Thus, we emphasize the importance of this forest remnant as a wildlife refuge, which makes it necessary to monitor the occurrence of these animals in the area and conserve similar remnants in the region.

Highlights

The Atlantic Forest is the second largest rainforest in South America (Metzger 2009), and one of the biomes with the greatest rates of endemism (Myers et al 2000; Ribeiro et al 2009)
Considering that large mammal species usually require larger areas (Chiarello 2000) and have lower population densities (Damuth 1981), it is clear that fragmentation and natural habitat loss is more pervasive for threatened large-sized species, which already have a greatly reduced population
Study site The Edgárdia Experimental Farm (EEF) is located in the basin of Capivara River, municipality of Botucatu in São Paulo State (-22.791 t o-22.833 0S & -48.437 to -48.375 0W) (Jorge 2000) (Fig. 1), altitude about 475m and with climate conditions characterized by two different seasons over the year — a rainy season and a dry season (Alves et al 2012)

Summary

Introduction

The Atlantic Forest is the second largest rainforest in South America (Metzger 2009), and one of the biomes with the greatest rates of endemism (Myers et al 2000; Ribeiro et al 2009). The fragmentation process in the Atlantic Forest reduced the biome area into small, disturbed, and isolated remnants surrounded by agro-mosaic matrices, human settlements, and roads (Ribeiro et al 2009; Lira et al 2012). Such fragmentation impairs the maintenance of natural mammal assemblies by limiting their population sizes and results in changes in species composition (Galetti et al 2017). Considering that large mammal species usually require larger areas (Chiarello 2000) and have lower population densities (Damuth 1981), it is clear that fragmentation and natural habitat loss is more pervasive for threatened large-sized species, which already have a greatly reduced population

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