Mineral Licks as Diversity Hotspots in Lowland Forest of Eastern Ecuador

Abstract

Mineral licks are sites where a diverse array of mammals and birds consume soil (geophagy) or drink water, likely for mineral supplementation. The diversity of species that visit such sites makes them important for conservation, particularly given that hunters often target animals at licks. Use of mineral licks varies among species, with frugivores among the most common visitors but there is considerable temporal and spatial variation in lick use both within and among species. Camera traps triggered by heat and motion were used to document use of mineral licks by birds and non-volant mammals over a four-year period at a lowland forest site in eastern Ecuador. We obtained 7,889 photographs representing 23 mammal species and 888 photographs representing 15 bird species. Activity (photographs/100 trap-days) at the four licks varied from 89 to 292 for mammals and from six to 43 for birds. Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris), peccaries (Pecari tajacu, Tayassu pecari), deer (Mazama americana), and pacas (Cuniculus paca) were the most frequent mammal visitors; guans (Pipile pipile) and pigeons (Columba plumbea) were the most common birds. Use of licks varied diurnally and seasonally but patterns of use varied among species and sites. Mineral licks provide an important resource for many species but further studies are needed to determine the precise benefit(s) obtained and how benefits may vary with diet and other factors, such as rainfall

Phylogenetic Relationships of New World Porcupines (Rodentia, Erethizontidae): Implications for Taxonomy, Morphological Evolution, and Biogeography

“…High in the canopy, Neotropical porcupines are perhaps safe from most nonavian predators, but they are probably more vulnerable on the ground. Swollen nasofrontal sinuses may confer an adaptive advantage for Coendou species that often descend to the ground for geophagy (Montenegro, 2004;Blake et al, 2011) or to cross canopy gaps (Montgomery and lubin, 1978), where they might be exposed to terrestrial predators such as pumas (Chinchilla, 1997;Novack et al, 2005;Foster et al, 2010) and large boas (Cherubini et al, 2003;duarte, 2003).…”

“…In situations like this, porcupines are probably exposed to a greater risk of predation than they would be in the canopy. Coendou prehensilis is the only other Neotropical species known to frequent mineral licks (Montenegro, 2004;Blake et al, 2011).…”

Yasuní – Un hotspot para jaguares Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae)? Cámaras trampa y actividad del jaguar en la Estación de Biodiversidad Tiputini, Ecuador

“…Peccaries (e.g., Pecari tajacu, collared peccary), preferred prey of jaguars in some studies (e.g., Emmons, 1987;Weckel et al, 2006), are more nocturnal in Belize (Weckel et al, 2006) than in our study site (Blake et al, 2011(Blake et al, , 2012. If sexes differ in preferred prey, this might explain some of the differences in hourly activity of males and females seen in this study.…”

“…Herds of white-lipped peccaries at TBS show marked variation in abundance (personal observations) so it is possible that their movement patterns might affect the occurrence of jaguars within the station as well. Variation in abundance of other prey of jaguars, such as red brocket deer (Mazama americana) and armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), that are common at TBS (Blake et al 2011(Blake et al , 2012, also might influence the distribution patterns of jaguars.…”

“…Individuals were identified on the basis of distinctive coat patterns. We classified photographs as belonging to independent records if more than 30min had elapsed between consecutive photographs of the same individual at a given location (see Blake et al, 2011). Activity was evaluated in terms of number of photographs, percentage of photographs or photographs/1 000 trap-days, depending on the analysis.…”