Density is crucial for understanding large carnivore ecology and conservation, but estimating it has proven methodologically difficult. We conducted 1 year of camera trapping to estimate jaguar (Panthera onca) density and population structure in the Los Llanos region of Venezuela on the Hato Piñero ranch, where hunting is prohibited and livestock are excluded from half of ranch lands. We identified 42 different jaguars and determined their sex, age class, and reproductive status. We estimated adult jaguar densities with spatial capture-recapture models, using sex/reproductive state and session as covariates. Models without temporal variation received more support than models that allowed variation between sessions. Males, reproductive females, and nonreproductive females differed in their density, baseline detectability, and movement. The best estimate of total adult jaguar population density was 4.44 individuals/100 km 2 . Based on reproductive female density and mean number of offspring per female, we estimated cub density at 3.23 individuals/ 100 km 2 and an overall density of 7.67 jaguars/100 km 2 . Estimated jaguar population structure was 21% males, 11% nonreproductive females, 26% reproductive females, and 42% cubs. We conclude that extending the sampling period to 1 year increases the detectability of females and cubs and makes density estimates more robust as compared to the more common short studies. Our results demonstrate that the Venezuelan Llanos represent important jaguar habitat, and further, they emphasize the importance of protected areas and hunting restrictions for carnivore conservation.
Living in an area chronically polluted with metals is usually associated with changes in the energy distribution in organisms due to increased energy expenses associated with detoxification and excretion processes. These expenses may be reflected in the available energy resources, such as lipids, carbohydrates, and proteins. In this context, the energy status of Pterostichus oblongopunctatus (Coleoptera: Carabidae) was studied in two metal pollution gradients near Olkusz and Miateczko Śląskie in southern Poland. Both regions are rich in metal ores, and the two largest Polish zinc smelters have been operating there since the 1970s. Beetles were collected from five sites at each gradient. Zinc and cadmium concentrations were measured in both the soil and the beetles. The possible reduction in energy reserves as a cost of detoxifying assimilated metals was evaluated biochemically by determining the total lipid, carbohydrates, and protein contents. At the most polluted sites, the Zn concentration in the soil organic layer reached 2,906 mg/kg, and the Cd concentration reached 55 mg/kg. Body Zn and Cd concentrations increased with increasing soil Zn and Cd concentrations (p = 0.003 and p = 0.0001, respectively). However, no relationship between pollution level and energetic reserves was found. The results suggest that populations of P. oblongopunctatus inhabiting highly metal-polluted sites are able to survive without any serious impact on their energy reserves, though they obviously have to cope with elevated body metal concentrations.
To address the question about costs of living in polluted areas, biomarkers linked to metabolism were measured in Pterostichus oblongopunctatus (Coleoptera: Carabidae) collected along two metal-pollution gradients in the vicinity of the two largest Polish zinc smelters: ‘Bolesław’ and ‘Miasteczko Śląskie’ in southern Poland. Both gradients covered a broad range of Zn and Cd concentrations in the humus layer (109–6151 and 1.48–71.4 mg kg−1, respectively) and body metal concentrations increased with increasing soil metal concentrations. The whole-organism respiration rate was measured as oxygen consumption with Micro-Oxymax respirometer, and cellular energy consumption—as the activity of electron transport system, which is linked to cellular respiration rate. The significant increase in the whole-organism respiration rate with the body metal concentration was found when taking into account other factors such as body mass, gradient (or year of sampling as the beetles were collected on the gradients in different years) and the interactions: body metal concentrations × collection date, body metal concentrations × body mass, and body mass × gradient/sampling year. However, no relationships between metal concentrations in soil or body metal concentrations and the whole-organism or cellular respiration rate could be detected when using mean values per site, underlining the crucial importance of incorporating individual variability in such analyses. The observed increase of the whole-organism respiration rate with increasing body contamination with metals suggests that P. oblongopunctatus incurs energetic expenditures resulting from the necessity to facilitate metal elimination or repair of toxicant-induced damage.
de Mastozoología, www.mastozoologiamexicana.org to the Ilú -Tramén-tepui massif and Ptari tepui (Huber et al. 2001). The climate is submesothermic ombrophilous characterized by annual average temperatures between 18 and 24 °C and 2,000 to 3,000 mm of total annual rainfall with a weak dry season (< 60 mm / month) from December to March (Rull et al. 2013).
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