Densities and perceptions of jaguars in coastal Nayarit, Mexico

Figel, Joe J.; Ruíz‐Gutiérrez, Fernando; Brown, David E.

doi:10.1002/wsb.686

Cited by 12 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…The high density was attributed to the high prey availability and productivity, and prohibition of hunting in this area, and contrasted with the lower estimate (2.2 individuals/100 km 2 ) obtained from a similar landscape in Colombia where there is livestock but hunting of jaguars and their prey is common ( Boron et al 2016 ; Jędrzejewski et al 2017 ). Similarly, low density (2.0 individuals/100 km 2 ) has been estimated for a mosaic landscape of tropical dry forest with settlements, crops, and hunting in Mexico ( Figel et al 2016 ). The lowest estimates are from sites in the transitional Chaco/tropical dry forests of Bolivia, with livestock and hunting (0.5 – 1.0 individuals/100 km 2 — Maffei et al 2002 ; Cuéllar et al 2003a , 2003b ; Peña et al 2004 ; Montaño et al 2010 ; Noss et al 2012 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Jaguar (Panthera onca) density and tenure in a critical biological corridor

Foster

Harmsen

Urbina

et al. 2020

Journal of Mammalogy

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We estimated jaguar density and tenure, and investigated ranging behavior, using camera traps across the Maya Forest Corridor, a human-influenced landscape in central Belize that forms the only remaining connection for jaguar populations inhabiting two regional forest blocks: the Selva Maya and the Maya Mountain Massif. Jaguars were ubiquitous across the study area. Similar to the neighboring Selva Maya, mean density ranged from 1.5 to 3.1 jaguars per 100 km 2 , estimated by spatial capture-recapture models. Cameras detected almost twice as many males as females, probably reflecting detection bias, and males ranged more widely than females within the camera grid. Both sexes crossed two major rivers, while highway crossings were rare and male-biased, raising concern that the highway could prevent female movement if traffic increases. Jaguars were more transient where the landscape was fragmented with settlements and agriculture than in contiguous forest. Compared with jaguars in the protected forests of the Maya Mountains, jaguars in central Belize displayed a lower potential for investment in intraspecific communication, indicative of a lower quality landscape; however, we did detect mating behavior and juveniles. Tenure of individuals was shorter than in the protected forests, with a higher turnover rate for males than females. At least three-quarters of reported jaguar deaths caused by people were male jaguars, and the majority was retaliation for livestock predation. Jaguars seem relatively tolerant to the human-influenced landscape of central Belize. However, intensification of game hunting and lethal control of predators would threaten population persistence, while increased highway traffic and clear-cutting riparian forest would severely limit the corridor function. Our results show that the viability of the corridor, and thus the long-term survival of jaguar populations in this region, will depend on appropriate land-use planning, nonlethal control of livestock predators, enforcement of game hunting regulations, and wildlife-friendly features in future road developments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Jaguar (Panthera onca) density and tenure in a critical biological corridor

Foster

Harmsen

Urbina

et al. 2020

Journal of Mammalogy

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“…For the area surrounding the trap array (mask) input, we used 2*σ following Royle et al. (2013) recommendations, which were also used previously in a jaguar density study in Marismas Nacionales, Nayarit, Mexico (Figel et al., 2016). Within that area, we used pixels of 0.266 km 2 representing a potential home-range center.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From the capture-recapture history of individuals of jaguars, a presence-absence matrix was constructed with 1-day sampling periods based on the dates of the photographs (Silver et al, 2004). For the area surrounding the trap array (mask) input, we used 2*r following Royle et al (2013) recommendations, which were also used previously in a jaguar density study in Marismas Nacionales, Nayarit, Mexico (Figel et al, 2016). Within that area, we used pixels of 0.266 km 2 representing a potential home-range center.…”

Section: Data Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-Based Monitoring of Jaguar (Panthera onca) in the Chinantla Region, Mexico

Lavariega

Ríos-Solís

Flores‐Martínez

et al. 2020

Tropical Conservation Science

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Successful community-based wildlife monitoring necessitates a high degree of local participation during sampling design and data collection. Here, we describe a community-based monitoring framework to estimate density and habitat use of the threatened jaguar (Panthera onca) in tropical montane forests in the Chinantla region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Community-based monitoring was completed involving integration with local communities, local governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and academic institutions. In a camera-trap survey (37 stations, 2,553 trap-days), we recorded eight adult jaguars across 182.7 km 2 of montane forest. Spatially explicit capture-recapture models estimated a density of 1.15 jaguars per 100 km 2 (CI ¼ 0.55-2.38) using a more traditional likelihood-based method and 1.16 jaguars per 100 km 2 (CI ¼ 0.89-1.57) using Bayesian methods. The locations of jaguar captures and their habitat use appeared to be influenced by normalized vegetation index and capture rate of prey. Density estimates in the Chinantla region were lower than recorded for other lowland populations in Mexico but were consistent with elevation-based and latitudinal gradients across the range of the species. The community-based monitoring of jaguars increased the communication and interaction of local community groups, stakeholders, and academic institutions. It also provided participants with an increased knowledge of wildlife identification, transferable skills, wildlife appreciation, and an interest in reaching compromises to achieve habitat conservation. Our study provides a framework for the execution of community-based monitoring for large carnivores in Mexico and can be readily replicated and applied to other threatened species.

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“…Despite their well-documented affinity for habitats near permanent surface water [9, 19, 40, 57, 63–65] this is one of the first studies to quantify associations between wetlands and jaguar habitat use. Wetlands in the Brazilian Pantanal and in the Venezuelan llanos are known strongholds for jaguars [9, 20, 63, 66] but previous studies in these areas were not specifically designed to identify associations between habitat features and jaguar presence in landscapes heavily modified by agriculture.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We placed all camera traps off-road because our reconnaissance surveys most commonly recorded jaguar sign on trails and footpaths, which are known travel routes for these cats [54–55]. Although jaguars also frequently use dirt roads for travel [56–57], oil palm workers constantly used dirt roads where risk of theft of our camera traps was a major concern.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wetlands are keystone habitats for jaguars in an intercontinental biodiversity hotspot

et al. 2019

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Agricultural development was the major contributor to South America’s designation as the continent with the highest rates of forest loss from 2000–2012. As the apex predator in the Neotropics, jaguars (Panthera onca) are dependent on forest cover but the species’ response to habitat fragmentation in heterogeneous agricultural landscapes has not been a subject of extensive research. We used occupancy as a measure of jaguar habitat use in Colombia’s middle Magdalena River valley which, as part of the intercontinental Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena biodiversity hotspot, is exceedingly fragmented by expanding cattle pastures and oil palm plantations. We used single-season occupancy models to analyze 9 months of data (2015–2016) from 70 camera trap sites. Given the middle Magdalena’s status as a “jaguar corridor” and our possible violation of the occupancy models’ demographic closure assumption, we interpreted our results as “probability of habitat use (Ψ)” by jaguars. We measured the associations between jaguar presence and coverage of forest, oil palm, and wetlands in radii buffers of 1, 3, and 5 km around each camera trap. Our camera traps recorded 77 jaguar detections at 25 of the camera trap sites (36%) during 15,305 trap nights. The probability of detecting jaguars, given their presence at a site, was 0.28 (0.03 SE). In the top-ranked model, jaguar habitat use was positively influenced by wetland coverage (β = 7.16, 3.20 SE) and negatively influenced by cattle pastures (β = -1.40, 0.63 SE), both in the 3 km buffers. We conclude that wetlands may serve as keystone habitats for jaguars in landscapes fragmented by cattle ranches and oil palm plantations. Greater focus on wetland preservation could facilitate jaguar persistence in one of the most important yet vulnerable areas of their distribution.

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Densities and perceptions of jaguars in coastal Nayarit, Mexico

Cited by 12 publications

References 40 publications

Jaguar (Panthera onca) density and tenure in a critical biological corridor

Jaguar (Panthera onca) density and tenure in a critical biological corridor

Community-Based Monitoring of Jaguar (Panthera onca) in the Chinantla Region, Mexico

Wetlands are keystone habitats for jaguars in an intercontinental biodiversity hotspot

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