ABSTRACT. Human interventions in natural environments are the main cause of biodiversity loss worldwide. The situation is not different in southern Brazil, home of five primate species. Although some earlier studies exist, studies on the primates of this region began to be consistently carried out in the 1980s and have continued since then. In addition to important initiatives to study and protect the highly endangered Leontopithecus caissara Lorrini & Persson, 1990 and Brachyteles arachnoides E. Geoffroy, 1806, other species, including locally threatened ones, have been the focus of research, management, and protection initiatives. Since 1993, the urban monkeys program (PMU, Programa Macacos Urbanos) has surveyed the distribution and assessed threats to populations of Alouatta guariba clamitans (Cabrera, 1940) in Porto Alegre and vicinity. PMU has developed conservation strategies on four fronts: (1) scientific research on biology and ecology, providing basic knowledge to support all other activities of the group; (2) conservation education, which emphasizes educational presentations and long-term projects in schools near howler populations, based on the flagship species approach; (3) management, analyzing conflicts involving howlers and human communities, focusing on mitigating these problems and on appropriate relocation of injured or at-risk individuals; and finally, (4) Public Policies aimed at reducing and/or preventing the impact of urban expansion, contributing to create protected areas and to strengthen environmental laws. These different approaches have contributed to protect howler monkey populations over the short term, indicating that working collectively and acting on diversified and interrelated fronts are essential to achieve conservation goals. The synergistic results of these approaches and their relationship to the prospects for primatology in southern Brazil are presented in this review.
KEYWORDS.Conservation biology, environmental education, brown howler monkey, public policies, urban monkeys program.RESUMO. Primatologia no sul do Brasil: uma abordagem transdisciplinar para a conservação do bugio-ruivo Alouatta guariba clamitans (Primates, Atelidae) na região de Porto Alegre, Brasil. Intervenções humanas nos ambientes naturais são a principal causa da perda de biodiversidade global. Essa situação não é diferente no sul do Brasil, onde vivem cinco espécies nativas de primatas. Embora existam algumas pesquisas anteriores, estudos sobre primatas nessa região começaram a ser desenvolvidos consistentemente no início da década de 1980 e continuaram sendo produzidos desde então. Além de importante iniciativas para pesquisar e conservar as espécies altamente ameaçadas Leontopithecus caissara Lorrini & Persson, 1990 e Brachyteles arachnoides E. Geoffroy, 1806, outras espécies, incluindo algumas localmente ameaçadas, têm sido foco de pesquisas, manejo, e iniciativas de conservação. Desde 1993, o Programa Macacos Urbanos (PMU) tem pesquisado a distribuição e avaliado as ameaças às populações de Alou...
