Visitation patterns of jaguars Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) to isolated water ponds in a tropical forest landscape

Abstract

Jaguar populations have declined dramatically in the last century. The Maya Biosphere Reserve (MBR) within the Selva Maya (SM) is a priority area for jaguar conservation. Influential factors in the jaguar seasonal distribution include the availability of surface water in wetlands such as the “aguadas” and the availability of prey. Aguadas are formed by isolated depressions in the landscape and serve as a water supply for wildlife during dry periods. The goal of this study was to describe the visitation patterns of jaguars to aguadas in a Tropical forest at Dos Lagunas Protected Biotopo, a core zone of the MBR, Guatemala. We used camera-trap data from seven aguadas during the dry seasons 2014-2017. We determined visitation rates (VR, records for 1,000 trap-days) and activity patterns (AP) of jaguars for all years, aguadas, and sexes. We tested for significant differences in AP between sexes, and we estimated the coefficient of overlap (D) for female and male jaguar activity. We recorded 14 individuals (five females, eight males, and one unsexed) in 60 visit events. Jaguars have significant more diurnal activity at aguadas, and showed a VR = 13.1 for 1,000 trap-days. VR varied between aguadas (VR = 9.5 – 19.4), years (VR = 1.9 – 39.2) and sexes (VR = 6.1 for females and 5.5 for males). We did not find significant differences in the AP of female and male jaguars (P > 0.05). The coefficient of overlap between activity of females and males was D = 0.77 (95 % confidence interval: 0.70 to 0.84; P > 0.05). Aguadas may represent regular sites of jaguar home-ranges overlap for the important resources they provide for wildlife during the dry season. Aguadas could play an important role in the conservation and management of jaguar populations since the spatial distribution of these bodies of water is scattered, but ecologically important for jaguars within the MBR and the SM. Aguadas also, are important landscape features that could influence the spatial interactions of individuals. We encourage jaguar researchers to increase investigation on jaguars visiting aguadas and other wetlands in the SM to better understand the jaguar activity patterns and sex-specific habitat requirements.

Occupancy models reveal potential of conservation prioritization for Central American jaguars

“…We did not find that habitat use of jaguars was positively related to water sources as previously found (Foster et al., 2010). This could be partly attributed to limitations of our water source layer, which lacked information on streams, intermittent rivers, wetlands, ponds, marshes, and rainwater ponds ‘aguadas’ ‐the latter important for jaguars in dry areas away from permanent/large water sources (Gaitán et al., 2020). Nonetheless, previous research has shown that jaguars with home‐ranges distant from watercourses exhibit responses independent from water locations (Morato et al, 2018).…”

Resident jaguars (Panthera onca) at the heart of the Maya Forest in Guatemala

“…Although these areas show high ecological integrity, there is low availability of superficial freshwater during the dry season, which is only available in isolated intermittent water ponds, locally known as ''aguadas''. As main freshwater sources during the dry season, ''aguadas'' are relevant landscape features that influence the temporal and spatial use of jaguars and prey species (Gaitán et al, 2021;Sánchez-Pinzón et al, 2020).…”

“…Resident jaguars have been identified with the use of camera-traps data on the basis of distinctive coat patterns of each individual providing data on life history parameters (Gaitán et al, 2021;García-Anleu et al, 2015;Harmsen et al, 2009Harmsen et al, , 2017Olson, Matzinger et al, 2019;. Some of these studies had highlighted the importance of border areas for the conservation of this species through the movements of individuals between populations in different countries (García-Anleu et al, 2020;McCain & Childs, 2008;Mena et al, 2020).…”

New queen? Evidence of a long-living Jaguar Panthera onca (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) in Tikal National Park, Guatemala

“…Tikal National Park and Maya Biosphere Reserve comprise low-land at elevations of 307-630 m with karstic and permeable soils, whereas the lower areas of the forest have the highest percentage of clayey soil and less permeability. These conditions favour the formation of water ponds that store rainwater during rainy season and become main bodies of water during dry season, playing an ecological importance for interaction of individual Jaguars (García et al 2018;Gaitán et al 2021).…”