Abstract
The Colombian Orinoquia region is characterized by a high diversity of mammals, which is associated with complex ecosystems that include large extensions of Neotropical savannas (known locally as “Llanos Orientales”). Despite accelerated anthropogenic transformations in savanna ecosystems, the knowledge to design effective conservation strategies, such as the distribution of mammal assemblages, is still lacking for this region. In this paper, we evaluate if assemblages of medium and large mammals (i.e., species richness, relative abundance and the contribution of the different trophic guilds) are homogeneous across the Colombian Llanos by comparing three savanna ecosystems: floodplains savannas associated with an Andean river, aeolian floodplains savannas and highland savannas. After a sampling effort of 3,150 camera trap/days, we recorded 16 mammal species from the three savanna ecosystems. We compared the three assemblages and their constituent trophic guilds by ANOSIM and SIMPER non-parametric permutation tests. The three assemblages differed in composition, structure and trophic guilds. The floodplains savannas, associated to an Andean river, present the highest diversity, contrastingly, the high-plain associated with the Guyanese Shield presents the lowest diversity. This pattern could be explained due to the greatest floristic diversity, complex vegetation structure and more fertile soils present in the riparian forests of the floodplains savannas, despite being the most anthropogenically transformed. The carnivores were the most variable category and herbivores were the most abundant. Our results show that the diversity of medium and large mammals is heterogeneously distributed in the Colombian Llanos. Therefore, it is necessary to implement targeted conservation strategies according to the characteristics, local fragility of each ecosystem in the territory and each species response by local conditions.
Highlights
The Neotropics contain about 30% of the total world mammalian diversity (Carrillo et al, 2015)
The Orinoquia region is composed of several ecosystems, mainly savannas which are distributed from the eastern side of the Andean mountain range to the Orinoco River north of the Guaviare river basin and total an area of around 230,000 km2 (Rippstein et al, 2001)
We aimed to compare the composition and structure of assemblages of medium and large mammals in terms of species richness, relative abundance, and the species contributions to trophic guilds at three different ecosystems along the Colombian Llanos: floodplain savannas associated with an Andean river, aeolian savannas and highland savannas associated to the Guyanese Shield
Summary
The Neotropics contain about 30% of the total world mammalian diversity (Carrillo et al, 2015). Mammalian species display considerable impacts on the composition and dynamics of Neotropical ecosystems (Redford, 1992). Colombia holds the sixth highest level of mammal diversity globally and the third in the Neotropical region, with 518 species This high diversity has been related to historical processes associated with its tropical position, topography and the high ecosystem diversity (Hernández-Camacho et al, 1992). In Colombia, five natural continental regions are recognized (i.e., Caribbean, Pacific, Andean, Orinoquia and Amazon), among which the Orinoquia is the second most diverse in mammals, only surpassed by the Andean (Pardo & Rangel‐Ch, 2014). The Orinoquia region is composed of several ecosystems, mainly savannas (known locally as “Llanos Orientales”) which are distributed from the eastern side of the Andean mountain range to the Orinoco River north of the Guaviare river basin and total an area of around 230,000 km (Rippstein et al, 2001)
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