Factors influencing ocelot occupancy in Brazilian Atlantic Forest reserves

Abstract

Over 80% of Atlantic Forest remnants are <50 ha and protected areas are embedded in a matrix dominated by human activities, undermining the long-term persistence of carnivores. The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is an opportunistic species, but little is known about its tolerance to habitat alterations and the influence of other species on its occupancy in Atlantic Forest remnants. We used camera traps to assess ocelot occupancy in protected areas of Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil. We found a positive correlation between the occupancy of ocelots and top predators (jaguars, Panthera onca, and pumas, Puma concolor), and a weaker negative effect between the number of domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) detected and ocelot occupancy. Ocelot detection was higher at sites with more eucalyptus, suggesting that ocelots frequently use these areas. Better-protected areas surrounded by permeable matrices may be critical to the persistence of ocelots in the fragmented Atlantic Forest.Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material.

Habitat use of the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) in Brazilian Amazon

“…Distance to roads and settlements may be to do with persecution by/avoidance of humans or indirect anthropogenic impacts like overhunting of prey. Temporal avoidance of ocelot in the presence of humans (Massara, de Oliveira Paschoal et al., ; Massara, Paschoal et al., ; Pardo Vargas, Cove, Spinola, de la Cruz, & Saenz, ) and other competitor, puma (Massara, de Oliveira Paschoal et al., ; Massara, Paschoal et al., ) has been observed, which also suggests that ocelots might avoid human activities or other larger species. As predicted, elevation was also influential covariate for ocelot habitat use.…”

“…The presence of sympatric species can influence ocelot's habitat use in Atlantic Forest remnants: The presence of a top predator (jaguars, P. onca , and pumas, P. concolor ) was positively associated with ocelot habitat use (Massara, de Oliveira Paschoal et al., ; Massara, Paschoal et al., , Supporting Information Table ). There was also a weaker negative relationship reported between numbers of domestic dogs ( Canis familiaris ) detected and ocelot occupancy (Massara, de Oliveira Paschoal et al., ; Massara, Paschoal et al., , Supporting Information Table ). This factor and the availability of prey or presence of apex predators were not included in our analysis.…”

“…Since 2000, studies of ocelot using camera traps have proliferated (Blake et al., ; de Oliveira et al., ; Paviolo et al., ; Pratas‐Santiago, Gonçalves, da Maia Soares, & Spironello, ; Wang, ), in particular, those estimating the species’ abundance and density (Di Bitetti, Paviolo, De Angelo, & Di Blanco, ; Di Bitetti et al., ; Dillon & Kelly, ; Penido et al., ; Rocha, Sollmann, Ramalho, Ilha, & Tan, ). These studies have revealed various aspects of ocelot ecology (Supporting Information Table ), and three of them used the occupancy modeling framework: two of them investigated the interactions between ocelots and sympatric species (Massara, Paschoal, Bailey, Doherty, & Chiarello, ; Massara, de Oliveira Paschoal et al., ; Massara, Paschoal et al., ), the third investigated how an attractant affected detection (Cove, Spinola, Jackson, & Saenz, ). Other studies report that ocelot densities correlate with forest cover (Paviolo et al., ), precipitation (Maffei, Noss, Cuéllar, & Rumiz, ; Rocha et al., ), and latitude (Di Bitetti et al., ; Rocha et al., ); in addition, ocelots may have an affinity for some specific matrices, such as eucalyptus plantation (Massara, de Oliveira Paschoal et al., ; Massara, Paschoal et al., ).…”

“…These studies have revealed various aspects of ocelot ecology (Supporting Information Table ), and three of them used the occupancy modeling framework: two of them investigated the interactions between ocelots and sympatric species (Massara, Paschoal, Bailey, Doherty, & Chiarello, ; Massara, de Oliveira Paschoal et al., ; Massara, Paschoal et al., ), the third investigated how an attractant affected detection (Cove, Spinola, Jackson, & Saenz, ). Other studies report that ocelot densities correlate with forest cover (Paviolo et al., ), precipitation (Maffei, Noss, Cuéllar, & Rumiz, ; Rocha et al., ), and latitude (Di Bitetti et al., ; Rocha et al., ); in addition, ocelots may have an affinity for some specific matrices, such as eucalyptus plantation (Massara, de Oliveira Paschoal et al., ; Massara, Paschoal et al., ). Ocelots have been recorded in a great variety of habitats, from heavily logged and fragmented forests, to early and late successional forests, the outskirts of major cities and towns, disturbed scrub/woodland Savannah and agricultural areas (de Oliveira et al., ).…”

Feline predator–prey relationships in a semi‐arid biome in Brazil

“…We used the Δ 1 estimator, which is recommended when the smaller sample has <75 observations (see Meredith & Ridout, ) and calculated 95% confidence intervals of Δ 1 , based on 10 000 bootstrap replicates. We considered Δ 1 values of <0.50 to represent a low level of overlap, values of between 0.50 and 0.60 to reflect moderate overlap and values of over 0.60 to represent a high level of overlap (Massara et al ., , b). We ran these analyses in the R software (R Core Team, ).…”