IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| von Mhlen, E.M. | |
| The effect of flood pulse on habitat use for felines and other mammals in Amazonia: understanding the importance of flooded areas for the survival and conservation of species | |
| 2018 Full Book | |
The Amazon is the largest tropical forest on earth, with an area of 7 million hectares, it is home to the highest richness of mammals species across the world. In this biome, mammals are distributed among two key regional habitats types: unflooded forests (terra firme) and flooded forests (alluvial forests, v rzea or igap¢ forests). Flooded forests are those completely submerged during long periods of the year due to the flood pulse of Amazon rivers. These highly productive areas have been identified as an important source of resources for several groups of animals at certain times of the year. The main objective of this thesis is to understand how mammal species of predators and preys use these habitat types in response to flood pulses. This study was developed in different localities and in protected areas of the Purus river basin, one of the most important tributaries of the Solimäes-Amazonas, composed of very heterogeneous landscapes with v rzea and terra firme areas. This thesis in organized in three chapters. In the first chapter, we measured the effect of flood pulse on the use of habitats by the community of medium and large size terrestrial mammals occurring in the Paumari indigenous lands in the middle Purus river. Almost all the species evaluated, which are known to be associated with terra firme, also used the areas of v rzea during low water periods. In general, the composition of mammals was quite distinct between v rzea and terra firme for the general community and mainly for herbivores, that were the main drivers of differences in community structure. In the second chapter, we evaluated the use of space by felids in the same environments but on a larger spatial scale, in the lower Purus River region. Four of the five Amazonian felids species occurred in both environments (Panthera onca, Puma concolor, Leopardus pardalis and Leopardus wiedii), but the effect of flood pulse was distinct between species, with Panthera onca and Leopardus wiedii using floodplain areas more intensely than unflooded forests in the dry season and Puma concolor and L. Pardalis rarely occurring in flooded habitats. In the third chapter, we measured the effect of anthropic pressure on the occupancy of felids in a protected area of sustainable use (RDS Piaga‡u-Purus). There was no general occupancy pattern for all the community, instead, each species responded differently to the variables. Contrary to our initial assumptions, our results demonstrated that greater proximity to human populations in Sustainable Development Reserves did not negatively affect the probability of occupancy of the two largest carnivores in the region. Almost all evaluated species, which are known to be associated with terra firme habitats, used v rzea areas during the low water period. This confirms the importance of flooded areas for the fauna of terrestrial mammals, reinforcing the idea of habitat complementarity for Amazonian mammal species. |
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