Use of a fragmented landscape by three species of opossum in south-eastern Brazil

Abstract

Spatial patterns presented by the opossums Caluromys philander, Philander frenata and Micoureus demerarae were studied, through radio-tracking, in a landscape composed of eight small (1.3–13.3 ha) forest fragments surrounded by a matrix of open vegetation in south-eastern Brazil. Sixteen individuals were fitted with radio-collar transmitters and monitored for 2–8 mo. Fixes were obtained by the ‘homing-in on the animal’ technique. Numbers of locations of each individual varied from 6 to 117. Home ranges sizes ranged from 2.5–7.0 ha for C. philander, 0.6–7.4 ha for P. frenata and 0.8–1.7 ha for M. demerarae. Fragments, both edges and interiors, were used more often than the matrix; they are the primary habitat for these marsupials in the landscape. The matrix was used for foraging by P. frenata and C. philander, and traversed in five movements between fragments by P. frenata. Ability to use fragment edges and the matrix is important in explaining how these marsupials are able to persist in the landscape.

Efficiency of small mammal trapping in an Atlantic Forest fragmented landscape: the effects of trap type and position, seasonality and habitat

“…Pitfalls had higher total capture success than Sherman traps placed either on the ground or in trees, confirming similar results found in several habitats in Brazil, which found that pitfalls were three to eight times more efficient (Lyra-Jorge and Pivello, 2001;Hice and Schmidl, 2002;Umetsu et al, 2006). This high efficiency of capture observed for pitfalls may be related to the likelihood of capturing more than one individual in the same trap, which was observed during this study on many occasions.…”

“…Pitfalls were more efficient in the fragment A and corridor. These habitats were dominated by rodents, which are generally captured more in pitfalls, as found in other studies (Silva, 2001;Lyra-Jorge and Pivello, 2001;Umetsu et al, 2006). For the corridor, besides the higher capture of rodents, there was also no capture in Sherman tree traps, probably due to its thin canopy.…”

“…However, in fragmented landscapes, alterations in the animal's spatial patterns -like increases or decreases in home range size and distances travelled (e.g. Pires et al, 2002;Lira et al, 2007) -can lead to differences in the efficiency of different trap types.…”

Carrion consumption by Dasyprocta leporina (RODENTIA: DASYPROCTIDAE) and a review of meat use by agoutis

“…After release, food was kept outside the fence until the animals became independent from the supplementation, which happened after 15 days approximately. All reintroduced animals were equipped with radio collars for radiotracking using the modified "homing in on the animal" method (Lira et al, 2007). They were daily or weekly monitored depending on time after release.…”

Lumbosacral plexus in Brazilian Common Opossum

“…The Brazilian Common Opossum is widely spread in Brazil -especially in the Atlantic Forest and Restinga -Argentina and Paraguay. Ecologically, it attracted special attention due to its capacity to adapt to different conditions and to persist forest fragmentation in advance of the creations of urban areas [12,13,22,32,38,41].…”