Effects of human-induced habitat changes on site-use patterns in large Amazonian Forest mammals

Quintero, Simón; Abrahams, Mark I.; Beirne, Christopher; Blake, John G.; Carvalho, Elildo A.R.; Costa, Hugo C. M.; Paula, Milton José de; Endo, Whaldener; Haugaasen, Torbjørn; Lima, Marcela Guimarães Moreira; Michalski, Fernanda; Mosquera, Diego; Norris, D. Ryan; Oliveira, Tadeu Gomes de; Paemelaere, Evi A. D.; Peres, Carlos A.; Pezzuti, Juarez; Romero, Sheila; Santos, Fernanda; Sillero‐Zubiri, Claudio; Whitworth, Andrew; Zwicker, Samantha; Maffei, Leonardo; Sahley, Catherine T.; Tuesta, Cinthya; Valdez, F. R.; Macdonald, David W.; Tan, Cedric Kai Wei

doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2023.109904

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Browsing herbivores like red brocket deer and collared peccaries are not attracted to burned areas like grazers (Klop & Van Goethem, 2008; Prado, 2013) such as tapirs that tend to exhibit more generalist feeding behavior (Prado, 2013; Varela et al., 2019). Research from the Amazon biome points to tapirs actively using recently burned areas (Paolucci et al., 2019), while another study found they avoid them (Quintero et al., 2023). The opposing results of studies may be due to the former being a controlled study while fires in the second study were entangled with subsequent land use change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Giant armadillos seek refuge in burrows during forest fires, but the severity of the megafires likely caused high mortality from elevated soil temperature and smoke inhalation (Silva et al., 2020; Silveira et al., 1999). Moreover, giant armadillos may completely disappear from burned areas (Peres et al., 2003), especially if there is vegetation cover loss (Quintero et al., 2023). These same factors may prevent swift population recovery in the area, and we suggest further research to evaluate the state of the population in Pantanal, given this species is vulnerable to extinction according to the IUCN and the Brazilian legislation (Anacleto et al., 2014; ICMBIo, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Establishing and quantifying the effects of fire on mammals or other tropical wildlife is difficult because of the unpredictable nature of ignitions and subsequent wildfires and the lack of studies prior to the incident, which hinder site‐level comparisons. Recent studies from the region suggest that species' responses to burned areas differ beyond traits such as body size or dispersal ability (Camargo et al., 2018; González et al., 2021; Quintero et al., 2023; Souza et al., 2023). For tapirs ( Tapirus terrestris ), for example, site use in the Amazon increased further from fires (Quintero et al., 2023), and they avoid burned areas more than other large‐bodied herbivores like deer ( Ozotoceros bezoarticus , Mazama americana , and Subulo gouazoubira ; Souza et al., 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies from the region suggest that species' responses to burned areas differ beyond traits such as body size or dispersal ability (Camargo et al., 2018; González et al., 2021; Quintero et al., 2023; Souza et al., 2023). For tapirs ( Tapirus terrestris ), for example, site use in the Amazon increased further from fires (Quintero et al., 2023), and they avoid burned areas more than other large‐bodied herbivores like deer ( Ozotoceros bezoarticus , Mazama americana , and Subulo gouazoubira ; Souza et al., 2023).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neotropical mammal responses to megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal

Bardales,

Boron,

Passos Viana

et al. 2024

Global Change Biology

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The increasing frequency and severity of human‐caused fires likely have deleterious effects on species distribution and persistence. In 2020, megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal burned 43% of the biome's unburned area and resulted in mass mortality of wildlife. We investigated changes in habitat use or occupancy for an assemblage of eight mammal species in Serra do Amolar, Brazil, following the 2020 fires using a pre‐ and post‐fire camera trap dataset. Additionally, we estimated the density for two naturally marked species, jaguars Panthera onca and ocelots Leopardus pardalis. Of the eight species, six (ocelots, collared peccaries Dicotyles tajacu, giant armadillos Priodontes maximus, Azara's agouti Dasyprocta azarae, red brocket deer Mazama americana, and tapirs Tapirus terrestris) had declining occupancy following fires, and one had stable habitat use (pumas Puma concolor). Giant armadillo experienced the most precipitous decline in occupancy from 0.431 ± 0.171 to 0.077 ± 0.044 after the fires. Jaguars were the only species with increasing habitat use, from 0.393 ± 0.127 to 0.753 ± 0.085. Jaguar density remained stable across years (2.8 ± 1.3, 3.7 ± 1.3, 2.6 ± 0.85/100 km2), while ocelot density increased from 13.9 ± 3.2 to 16.1 ± 5.2/100 km2. However, the low number of both jaguars and ocelots recaptured after the fire period suggests that immigration may have sustained the population. Our results indicate that the megafires will have significant consequences for species occupancy and fitness in fire‐affected areas. The scale of megafires may inhibit successful recolonization, thus wider studies are needed to investigate population trends.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Neotropical mammal responses to megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal

Bardales,

Boron,

Passos Viana

et al. 2024

Global Change Biology

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“…However, temporal trends from the Living Planet Index suggest that populations of vertebrates in south America have decreased by 94% since 1970 (Lambertini, 2020). In addition, other studies in this region have shown a decline in biodiversity due to land-use change (Bogoni, Peres and Ferraz, 2020; Gaona et al ., 2021; Quintero et al ., 2023). The difference is a demonstration of the importance of testing multiple data types and of assessing the regional biome framework using time-series biodiversity data and across multiple threat gradients in the future.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity shows unique responses to land-use change across regional biomes

Bevan

Ferreira

Ingram

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Aim: Biogeography has a critical influence on how ecological communities respond to threats and how effective conservation interventions are designed. For example, the resilience of ecological communities is linked to environmental and climatic features, and the nature of threats impacting ecosystems also varies geographically. Understanding community–level threat responses may be most accurate at fine spatial scales, however collecting detailed ecological data at such a high resolution would be prohibitively resource intensive. In this study, we aim to find the spatial scale that could best capture variation in community–level threat responses whilst keeping data collection requirements feasible. Location: Global Terrestrial Time period: 1980 – Present Major Taxa studied: Terrestrial Plants & Animals Methods: Using a database of biodiversity records with extensive global coverage, we modelled species richness and total abundance (the responses) across land–use types (reflecting threats), considering three different spatial scales: biomes, biogeographical realms, and regional biomes (the interaction between realm and biome). We then modelled data from three highly sampled biomes separately to ask how responses to threat differ between regional biomes. Results: We found strong support for regional biomes in explaining variation in species richness and total abundance compared to biomes or realms alone. Responses to disturbed land–use types compared to primary vegetation were more pronounced and more distinct between regional biomes in the tropics compared to the temperate zone. Main conclusions: Our results suggest that regional biomes have potential as a reasonable spatial scale for understanding how ecological communities respond to threats and designing effective conservation interventions, but the lack of variation in response to land–use change between temperate regional biomes could mean that this framework would be more beneficial for refining the monitoring of tropical habitats.

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The distribution of bushmeat mammals in unflooded forests of the Central Amazon is influenced by poaching proxies

de Souza Ferreira Neto,

Baccaro,

Phillips

et al. 2023

Ecology and Evolution

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Medium to large rainforest mammals are key conservation flagship groups that offer non‐redundant ecosystem functions, but anthropic pressures, such as illegal hunting, may strongly affect their occupancy in Amazonia. We combined camera traps and occupancy models to assess the influence of distance from human settlements, the number of families per settlement and the synergetic effect of the average weight of 27 species on the occupancy probability of mammals. Specifically, we classified mammal species according to the game preferences of hunters (i.e. a group of species depleted for bushmeat, a group of species hunted for retaliation and a group of non‐hunted species). We also accounted for the influence on the detection probability of each group of both the number of days each camera operated and the body weight of mammals. The occupancy probability of the bushmeat group (i.e. deer, peccaries, agoutis, pacas and armadillos) was lower at locations closer to human settlements. Still, the number of families correlated positively with occupancy, with the occupancy probability of the group being slightly higher at sites with more families. This difference was probably due to larger and more abundant crops and fruiting trees attracting wildlife at such sites. Conversely, the occupancy probability of the retaliation group (i.e. carnivores) and the non‐hunted group (i.e. opossums, spiny rats, squirrels and anteaters) were indifferent to anthropogenic stressors. The detection probability of the non‐hunted and particularly the most depleted species correlated negatively with body weight. This may suggest that larger species, especially those from the bushmeat group, are rarer or less abundant in the system, possibly because they are the preferable target of hunters. In the long term, locals will likely need to travel long distances to find harvest meat. Poaching also threatens food security since game bushmeat is an essential source of protein for isolated rural Amazonians.

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Effects of human-induced habitat changes on site-use patterns in large Amazonian Forest mammals

Cited by 6 publications

References 89 publications

Neotropical mammal responses to megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal

Neotropical mammal responses to megafires in the Brazilian Pantanal

Biodiversity shows unique responses to land-use change across regional biomes

The distribution of bushmeat mammals in unflooded forests of the Central Amazon is influenced by poaching proxies

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