Jaguar persistence in fragments of the Atlantic Coastal Forest
Transcrição
Jaguar persistence in fragments of the Atlantic Coastal Forest
Ja g uar pe r s i ste nce in f r a gments of the Atlantic C o a stal Forest, southeastern B r a zil Renata Leite Pitman1, Marcelo Mazzolli 2 1Duke University Center for Tropical Conservation/Instituto Procarnivoros/WildCRU 2Projeto Puma Brazil’s Atlantic Coastal Forest is the second most endangered tropical forest in the world and only 5% of this ecosystem remains. Although 30% of this ecosystem is inside protected areas, only paper protects most of them and there are people and domestic animals living inside. The largest and best protected tract of the Atlantic Coastal Forest is found in southeastern Brazil, where the jaguar population was surveyed by the presence of tracks and scats during 1995-1997, giving a rough estimate of 1 jaguar per 100 km2, and revealing local extinction of the species in some areas (e.g., Superagui National Park). The expectation made based on those surveys was that the jaguar population would not persist for the next 10 years. However, surveys realized 10 years later (2006) show that jaguars still persist in the area. We show that during these 10 years other protected areas were created in the region, protection of existing protected areas was strengthened. These measures might be responsible for the persistence of jaguars in the area but are unlikely to be enough to ensure jaguar survival if specific measures are not implemented. Jaguar population (200+/-85 ind) remaining in the Atlantic Coastal Forest (1998) Ten years ago it was difficult to imagine how such a low population density of jaguars (sign frequency of 0.15/day) under strong different pressures (hunting, competition, diseases and habitat loss) would survive over the next decade. But they did. Mazzolli and Hammer (2006) visited the region I worked 10 years ago to find that Jaguar’s still inhabit this region, but in densities 5 times lower than 10 years ago. During this time frame, 10 new protected areas were created at the region (see box below), other expanded and/or have the protection status reinforced. However the regional increment of protected areas, wasn’ t enough to avoid the dramatic population decline observed. Hunting towards jaguar prey still persist and there is no official control of diseases on domestic animals, specially domestic dogs. As last measures to avoid the expected extinction of the species in the region, if that still possible, immediate action is need towards hunting, diseases control, and creation of new corridors that links this population to others. New areas are shown with a red outline 13 new protected areas created over the last 10 years Protected Area Area (ha) Pau Oco State Park 881 Roberto Ribas Lange State Park 2802 Rio da Onca State Park 117 Pico Marumbi State Park 2388 Serra da Baitaca State Park 3053 Ilha do Mel State Park 395 Pico Parana State Park 4333 Serra do Mar Environment Protection Area 66869 Palmito State Forest 535 Rio Irai Environment Protection Area 11030 Piraquara Environment Protection Area 9133 Rio Pequeno Environment Protection Area 7159 Metropolitana State Forest 281 Total 108976 REFERENCES L e i te, M .R . P ., Boulhosa, R . L .P . G al v ão, F. and Cu llen, L . 2002. Conservacion del jaguar en las áreas protegidas del bosque atlantico de la costa de Brasil. pp. 25-42. and Leite, M .R . P ., and Ga l vão, F. 2002. El ja g u a r, el pu m a y el h o m br e en tres áreas protegidas de los bosques costeros de Paran a, Bras il.pp 237-250. In Medellin, R. A., Chetkiewicz, C., Rabinowitz, A., Redford, K. H., Robinson, J. G., Sanderson, E. and Taber, A. (eds.), El Jaguar en el nuevo milenio. Una evaluacion de su estado, deteccion de prioridades y recomendaciones para la conservacion de los jaguares en America.Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico/Wildlife Conservation Society. Mexico D. F M az z o l l i, M. and Hammer, M. L. A, 2006. Qualidade de ambiente para a onca-pintada e o puma na Baia de Guaratura, Estado do Parana. Report. 28 pp.
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