Survey of medium-sized and large mammals of Piedras Blancas National Park, Costa Rica

Maxwell R W Beal,Erik R Olson,Parker J Matzinger,Jonathan Noguera Bristan,Guido Saborío-R

doi:10.15560/16.4.939

Abstract

Piedras Blancas National Park, in southern Costa Rica, is an important component of two biological corridors connecting the Osa Peninsula (Corcovado National Park) and La Amistad International Park. Understanding the mammal community composition of Piedras Blancas will provide baseline data to evaluate the success of conservation efforts. We used camera traps and opportunistic observations to describe the medium-sized and large mammals of the park. We deployed camera traps for 1,440 trap nights (2016-2018). We detected 19 mammal species from seven orders and 13 families. Five species are globally threatened: Leopardus wiedii (Schinz, 1821), Saimiri oerstedii (Linnaeus, 1758), Ateles geoffroyi (Kuhl, 1820), Alouatta palliata (Gray, 1849), and Tapirus bairdii (Gill, 1865). We did not detect two locally threatened species, Panthera onca (Linnaeus, 1758) and Tayassu pecari (Link, 1795). Our research highlights a need for critical conservation work within the proposed biological corridor to support Costa Rica&rsquo;s most threatened wildlife.

Highlights

IntroductionMesoamerica is considered one of Earth’s important biodiversity hotspots, hosting an impressive number of biomes, life zones, and eco-regions (Rivera et al 2002; Mittermeier et al 2004)
Piedras Blancas National Park is located on the Pacific coast, at the base of the Osa Peninsula, in southern Costa Rica
Piedras Blancas is a relatively small protected area located at the junction of two biological corridors, the Osa and AMITOSA biological corridors, connecting Corcovado National Park and La Amistad International Park (Fig. 1)

Summary

Introduction

Mesoamerica is considered one of Earth’s important biodiversity hotspots, hosting an impressive number of biomes, life zones, and eco-regions (Rivera et al 2002; Mittermeier et al 2004) It has experienced relatively high rates of deforsestation in its western pacific lowland forests over the past century (Guppy 1984; Myers 1993; Mittermeier et al 2004). Protected areas, such as national parks, have been shown to play an important role in conserving biodiversity and mitigating the impacts of human development and disturbance (Guppy 1984; Bruner et al 2001; Sánchez-Azofeifa et al 2003; Nepstad et al 2006), small or isolated areas are less effective. Piedras Blancas is a relatively small protected area located at the junction of two biological corridors, the Osa and AMITOSA biological corridors, connecting Corcovado National Park and La Amistad International Park (Fig. 1)

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