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Galetti, M.; Eizirik, E.; Beisiegel, B.; Rerraz, K.; Cavalcanti, S.; Srbek-Araujo, A.C.; Crawshaw Jr., P.G.; Paviolo, A.; Galetti Jr, P.M.; Jorge, M.L.; Marinho-Filho, J.; Vercillo, U.; Morato, R.
Atlantic Rainforest's Jaguars in Decline
2013 Science (342): 930-930
In her news focus story "Predators in the "hood" (20 September, p. 1332), V. Morell reported that top predator populations are coming back across much of North America. Meanwhile, predators in Brazil continue to decline. A recent meeting of wildlife experts indicated that the Atlantic rainforest that once stretched along the coast of Brazil and parts of Argentina and Paraguay may soon be the first tropical biome to lose its largest top predator, the jaguar (_Panthera onca_). Researchers estimated fewer than 250 mature jaguars alive in the entire biome, distributed in eight isolated populations (1). Even worse, molecular analyses demonstrate that local effective population size (a critical parameter for the maintenance of genetic diversity) is below 50 animals (2).
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