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Distribution of the records of the family Felidae in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES. Records are from 1878 to 2018 (note: several populations may be extinct today).
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Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropica...
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La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve (REBIEN) and Puerto Arista Estuarine System (SEPA) are natural protected areas and Ramsar sites in Chiapas, Mexico. In this study, we conducted an inventory of medium-sized and large mammals using camera trapping. We recorded 23 species in the REBIEN and 13 species in the SEPA. In addition, 35% of the species record...
Citations
... Another possible explanation for the persistent increase in mortality after 2016 is an increase in predation. In addition to the declines in the sympatric primate populations, we have also detected declines in the diversity of small mammals from camera trap images collected since 2010 (unpublished data) and compared with 2014-2015 (Nagy- Reis et al., 2020). Both puma (Puma concolor) and ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) have increased, and the population of free-ranging dogs (Canis familiaris) is among the largest compared with other protected areas in the region (Paschoal et al., 2016). ...
Understanding how demographic parameters change with density is essential for predicting the resilience of small populations. We use long‐term, individual‐based life history data from an isolated population of the Critically Endangered Northern Muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus) inhabiting a 1000‐ha protected forest to evaluate density‐dependent demographic rates before and after an abrupt population decline. We found no effect of density on fertility or birth sex ratio, but mortality rates increased linearly with log density over the 33 years of population growth (1983–2015) and the subsequent 7 years of population decline (2016–2022). We used an age‐ and sex‐structured logistic growth model to project population sizes to 2060. Under the 1983–2015 demographic profile, the projected size was 500 individuals, but this dropped to 200 when including the abrupt change. Although the abrupt decline coincided with the end of a 2‐year drought and a yellow fever outbreak, we found no statistical effects of climate or disease on the continued population decline after 2016. However, the lower projected carrying capacity for muriquis is consistent with reduced forest productivity and increased predator pressures. These findings demonstrate the value of long‐term monitoring for identifying demographic changes that affect the sustainability of wildlife populations in small protected areas.
... This knowledge gap is primarily due to the demanding methods needed to study coexistence, such as camera traps or radio tracking, which limit the ability to conduct comprehensive research at coarse scales. Current data sets from broad research programs, such as the Neocarnivores database (Nagy-Reis et al., 2020), can provide insights into the distribution-scale patterns and the impact of human disturbance on these species. ...
... The Neocarnivores database is a compilation of georeferenced data on carnivore distribution obtained from studies conducted from 1818 to 2018. It is the largest data set on Neotropical wild carnivores to date (Nagy-Reis et al., 2020). From this database, we extracted occurrences of jaguars, pumas, and ocelots from the year 2005 onward, excluding older entries to better align with the predictor variables used in the model process and to avoid unwanted historical biases, such as the presence of jaguars in the Atlantic Forest in the past century, where the species is currently almost extirpated. ...
... When considering the total effect, we found no major differences regarding the magnitude of indirect effects (Appendix S2). However, indirect effects by definition have less of an effect because they are a FIGURE 2 Area considered in the model of jaguar, puma, and ocelot occurrences (green dots, 10-km zones around rasterized presence-absence data sourced from the Neocarnivores dataset [Nagy-Reis et al., 2020]; rectangle, example region for enlargement panels). Enlargement panels on the left show presence of jaguar (yellow), puma (green), and ocelot (blue) and absence of each species (gray). ...
Anthropogenic activities may alter felid assemblage structure, facilitating the persistence of tolerant species (commonly mesopredators), excluding ecologically demanding ones (top predators) and, consequently, changing coexistence rules. We aimed to determine how human activities influence intraguild relationships among top predators and their cascading effects on mesopredators, which remain poorly understood despite evidence of top carnivore decline. We used structural equation modeling at a continental scale to investigate how habitat quality and quantity, livestock density, and other human pressures modified the intraguild relations of the 3 species that are at the top of the food chain in the Neotropics: jaguars (Panthera onca), pumas (Puma concolor), and ocelots (Leopardus pardalis). We included presence–absence data derived from systematic studies compiled in Neocarnivores data set for these felid species at 0.0833° resolution. Human disturbance reduced the probability of jaguar occurrence by −0.35 standard deviations. Unexpectedly, the presence of sheep (Ovis aries) or goats (Capra aegagrus hircus) and jaguars was positively related to the presence of pumas, whereas puma presence was negatively related to the presence of ocelots. Extent of forest cover had more of an effect on jaguar (β = 0.23) and ocelot (β = 0.12) occurrences than the extent of protected area, which did not have a significant effect. The lack of effect of human activities on puma presence and the positive effect of small livestock supports the notion that pumas are more adaptable to habitat disturbance than jaguars. Our findings suggest that human disturbance has the potential to reverse the hierarchical competition dominance among large felids, leading to an unbalanced community structure. This shift disadvantages jaguars and elevates the position of pumas in the assemblage hierarchy, resulting in the exclusion of ocelots, despite their relatively lower susceptibility to anthropogenic disturbance. Our results suggest that conservation efforts should extend beyond protected areas to encompass the surrounding landscape, where complexities and potential conflicts are more pronounced.
... A greater sampling effort could not only contribute to our knowledge of mammal species richness in the Cerrado but also clarify the role of climate or other variables in determining species distributions, as the influence of environmental variables varies depending on the scale analysed (Brun et al. 2019, Craven et al. 2020. Projects that aim to boost the compilation of unpublished data, such as the Atlantic Datasets, which compiles information on Atlantic Forest biodiversity (Gonçalves et al. 2018, Lima et al. 2017, Souza et al. 2019, are important to ensure that specialists can contribute with information for a wider range of taxa (Nagy-Reis et al. 2020, Souza et al. 2019, Santos et al. 2019. We call for a coordinated effort for the Cerrado biome to accurately assess mammal diversity and the real threat level the biome is facing. ...
The Atlantic Forest and Cerrado (Brazilian Savannah) contain a large number of endemic species and high species diversity, particularly for medium and large-bodied mammals. However, there is no large-scale assessment of these animals and their spatial distribution. Our study synthesises the literature on medium and large-bodied mammal surveys in the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest to provide insights into their distributions across large spatial scales and identify knowledge gaps to guide future research. We synthesised papers published in three databases, focusing on mammals weighing more than 1kg. Of the 84 papers we found, the majority (57.14%) were on mammals in the Atlantic Forest, while 42.85% were on mammals found in the Cerrado. We gathered records for 116 species, the most common of which were Cerdocyon thous (Linnaeus, 1766), Procyon cancrivorus (Cuvier, 1798) and Chrysocyon brachyurus (Illiger, 1815) (Cerrado); Dasypus novemcinctus (Linnaeus, 1758), Cerdocyon thous (Linnaeus, 1766) and Nasua nasua (Linnaeus, 1766; Atlantic Forest). Our study allowed us to access, for the first time in the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado, the information available about medium and large-bodied mammals. We also highlight important sampling gaps, especially concerning the northern parts of both biomes that we need to address, as well as the differences in density of sampling points that are caused by a smaller concentration of sampling efforts in the Atlantic Forest than what we found in Cerrado. As a consequence, larger extensions of Cerrado present knowledge gaps concerning mammal surveys that need to be investigated in future research.
... We are grateful to the authors of the data papers Aguiar et al. 2020;Nagy-Reis et al. 2020) for providing data used in this work. ...
The distribution pattern of a taxon is a consequence of historical and contemporary processes—specifically ecological and evolutionary processes—which tend to result in distributional congruence among species that respond similarly to the same processes. This congruence leads to the establishment of areas of endemism that are important for delimiting biogeographic regions. In the Neotropical region, different definitions of area of endemism have been proposed based on the distributional patterns of mammal species, each according to different methods and assumptions. In this study, we aimed to identify areas of endemism of Neotropical mammals, represented by 361 species of Placentalia (Xenarthra, Chiroptera, and Carnivora) and Marsupialia (Didelphimorphia and Paucituberculata), using an endemicity analysis implemented by the software NDM (eNDeMism software) and a hierarchical cluster analysis based on Simpson’s beta dissimilarity metric (βsim). The results suggest alternative spatial configurations within northern and southern parts of the Neotropics along transition zones. Additionally, there are indications of more restricted areas of endemism throughout the Neotropical region and with more species supporting the areas, such 1 area located in the region corresponding to the Atlantic forest and 2 areas corresponding to Mexican transition zone. The study enhances our understanding of Neotropical mammal biogeography and underscores the importance of using primary distribution data. Previous studies found 82 endemic species based on range maps, whereas our analyses identified 172 endemic species, including 125 that are newly proposed as such, and also confirmed the existence of 47 previously reported endemic species.
... Given that jaguarundi diet encompasses several classes of small terrestrial vertebrate, estimating and including prey availability in our model was beyond the scope of this study, however we infer that the majority, if not all, of the covariates in our final model are direct predictors of suitable prey abundance and availability (e.g.Moreno-Sosa et al., 2022).Our model did not incorporate the distribution or abundance of potential predators or interspecific competitors, which might be important explanatory variables of felid distribution. The jaguarundi is sympatric with at least seven other felid species, overlapping most extensively with jaguars, pumas, ocelots, and margaysNielsen et al., 2015;Paviolo et al., 2015). High dietary overlap exists between jaguarundis and the other sympatric small felids (e.g.Migliorini et al., 2018;Silva-Pereira et al., 2011;Zuercher et al., 2022). ...
Aim
Planning conservation action requires accurate estimates of abundance and distribution of the target species. For many mammals, particularly those inhabiting tropical forests, there are insufficient data to assess their conservation status. We present a framework for predicting species distribution using jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi), a poorly known felid for which basic information on abundance and distribution is lacking.
Location
Mesoamerica and South America.
Time Period
From 2003 to 2021.
Taxa
Herpailurus yagouaroundi.
Methods
We combined camera‐trap data from multiple sites and used an occupancy modelling framework accounting for imperfect detection to identify habitat associations and predict the range‐wide distribution of jaguarundis.
Results
Our model predicted that the probability of jaguarundi occupancy is positively associated with rugged terrain, herbaceous cover, and human night‐time light intensity. Jaguarundi occupancy was predicted to be higher where precipitation was less seasonal, and at intermediate levels of diurnal temperature range. Our camera data also revealed additional detections of jaguarundis beyond the current International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) range distribution, including the Andean foothills of Colombia and Bolivia.
Main Conclusion
Occupancy was predicted to be low throughout much of Amazonian lowlands, a vast area at the centre of jaguarundi known range. Further work is required to investigate whether this area represents sub‐optimal conditions for the species. Overall, we estimate a crude global jaguarundi population of 35,000 to 230,000 individuals, covering 4,453,406 km² of Meso‐ and South America at the 0.5 probability level of occupancy. Our current framework allows for an initially detailed, well‐informed species distribution that should be challenged and refined with improved habitat layers and additional records of jaguarundi detection. We encourage similar studies of lesser‐known mammals, pooling existing by‐catch data from the growing bank of camera‐trap surveys around the world.
... Furthermore, larger body mass felines (e.g., the puma and jaguar) are considered umbrella species in defining priority areas for biodiversity conservation (Jenkins et al., 2013;Ray et al., 2013). Seven species of Neotropical cats (Felidae) occur in the AF (Nagy-Reis et al., 2020;IUCN, 2022), all of which are experiencing reductions in range and population size (IUCN, 2022). Most conservation studies conducted in the AF have focused on the jaguar (Panthera onca) and puma (Puma concolor), which are the largest cats (see Lyra-Jorge et al., 2010;Morato et al., 2016). ...
... We compiled 20,000 feline occurrence records for the entire Neotropical region. For this, we used the open databases Atlantic Mammals (Souza et al., 2019), Atlantic Camtraps (Lima et al., 2017) and Neotropical Carnivores (Nagy-Reis et al., 2020); data available in the literature (see Sartor et al., 2021;Nascimento and Feijó, 2017); and the virtual databases GBIF (www.gbif.org), SiBBr P. Ribeiro-Souza et al. (Muylaert et al., 2018) and its biogeographic sub-regions (adapted from Silva and Casteleti, 2003). ...
Understand which factors influence the distribution of feline species can contribute to better planning of conservation strategies in a biodiversity hotspot. We modeled the potential distribution of seven cat species occurring in the Atlantic Forest (AF). Here, we combined climatic and landscape perspectives to determine the most suitable areas considering the taxonomic richness of these cats. We also assessed the ability of fully protected areas (FPAS) to protect these cat species. The results indicated that only 30% of the AF remnants are suitable for all species. Areas with low species richness were located in Argentina and northeastern Brazil. For taxonomic richness, the Serra do Mar (45.89%) and the Araucaria (27.90%) sub-regions had the highest suitable areas, followed by the Interior sub-region (21.89%). The Brejos Nordestinos and Pernambuco sub-regions had less than 1% suitability. Considering taxonomic richness, only 9% of suitable areas are covered by FPAs. Leopardus emiliae (1.37%) and Panthera onca (1.97%) had the lowest values of suitable areas covered by FPAs. The other species of cats are also under low protection (L. guttulus = 5.38%, L. wiedii = 5.71%, Herpailurus yagouaroundi = 6.70%, L. pardalis = 3.85%,
and Puma concolor = 4.94%). We reveal that a low percentage of suitable areas are currently fully protected. This study also provides important conservation measures to be implemented in
different AF sub-regions. These findings may help in the planning, maintenance, and implementation of FPAs through restoration programs and the establishment of ecological corridors.
... For instance, we report the first documented presence of raccoons (P. cancrivorus) in rocky environments in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil (Feijó et al., 2023;Nagy-Reis et al., 2020;Pessanha et al., 2023) as a food source of insects. The analysis of blood meals from the triatomine vector is a valuable and non-invasive approach for gathering information about the wild mammals involved in a local transmission network (Pessanha et al., 2023). ...
Exploring the dynamics of disease transmission involves an understanding of complex interactions within the eco-epidemiologic framework. In the context of Chagas disease (CD), elements are mainly represented by the interactions among the pathogen, insect vector, host, humans and the environment. We performed quantitative and qualitative analyses on a dataset derived from 98 Triatoma brasiliensis infected by trypanosomatids, which were linked to a CD outbreak in the semi-arid region of northeastern Brazil. We extracted invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) from these insects, comprising 18 populations around the outbreak area, each indicative of various strata of anthropogenic influence. Food source (FS) diversity, representing potential parasite reservoirs, was determined through mitochondrial gene (cyt b) sequencing of vertebrates, and parasite genotyping was accessed using fluorescent amplified fragment barcodes (FFLB) of trypanosomatids. We also assessed the residents' awareness of breeding sites for CD vectors in the inspected houses. The quantification of Trypanosoma cruzi was estimated via real-time PCR and is denominated here as the average parasite load (PL) per insect (T. cruzi/intestinal unit). We aimed to address vector-parasite-host-environment interactions that were discussed based on their significance among the components. Notably, among the significant interactions, we observed that the PL in the insects was significantly influenced by FS. Infected insects that fed on the classic reservoir, Didelphis albiventris, and Galea spixii exhibited higher PLs, compared to those that fed on Kerodon rupestris (p<0.04) – a primary host. While D. albiventris is already recognized as a synanthropic species, we propose that G. spixii may also be undergoing a synanthropic process. Conversely, domestic cats are frequently identified as FS in infected insects from the sylvatic environment, suggesting a possible change in their behavior towards a wild state. Therefore, we propose that neglected anthropogenic actions have facilitated the reciprocal (sylvatic-peridomestic) circulation of T. cruzi – especially noted for TcI because it was predominant in insects found in peridomestic environments. Residents are often unaware of the existence of insect breeding grounds near their homes, particularly when it involves the storage of materials without planning for use, such as piles of tiles, bricks and wood. Although indirect inferences about the interaction among vector-parasite-host-environment are still incipient, we highlight the potential use of vectors as natural samplers of biological and ecological components in transmitting the disease.
... Overall, the central mountain region of Espírito Santo has high representativeness in terms of richness, being a critical stronghold for several threatened species of mammals. Lima et al. 2017;Culot et al. 2018;Santos et al. 2019;Nagy-Reis et al. 2020;Rosa et al. 2020 Como produto, criamos um banco de dados de registros de coleção e literatura para os mamíferos silvestres da região Central Serrana do Espírito Santo (Material Suplementar). O banco de dados é um documento no formato Excel, onde constam registros de ocorrência potencialmente seguros e registros potencialmente incertos ou controversos. ...
Resumo Identificar e analisar as lacunas de biodiversidade é fundamental para elencar e priorizar áreas para pesquisa, manejo e conservação. A região Central Serrana do Espírito Santo possui uma inegável importância para a conservação da biodiversidade, porém ainda são necessárias pesquisas indicando a distribuição dos registros de espécies e a riqueza da região. Assim, este estudo visou iden-tificar áreas importantes para a conservação por meio da análise de lacunas. Compilamos registros de mamíferos para a região, provenientes de diferentes bases de dados e publicações. A partir desse conjunto atualizado de dados, realizamos análises espaciais de densidade de kernel e de riqueza. Também identificamos o avanço temporal dos registros, assim como verificamos os registros em áreas protegidas e fora delas. Ao todo, nossa base reuniu 2.798 registros considerados potencialmente seguros, englobando 121 espécies de mamíferos silvestres. O município de Santa Teresa concentra a maioria dos registros, localizados, principalmente, em suas áreas protegidas. Já o município de Itarana abrange um menor número de registros. Essa desproporcionalidade na distribuição dos registros certamente está relacionada a um viés amostral, mas também pode refletir uma maior riqueza nas áreas protegidas. De modo geral, a região Central Serrana do Espírito Santo apresenta uma alta represen-tatividade em termos de riqueza, sendo um importante refúgio para diversas espécies ameaçadas de mamíferos.
... Species groups such as opossums, sloths, armadillos, anteaters, agouties, capybaras, pacas, spiny rats, chinchillas, brad-nosed monkeys, and leaf-nosed bats are exclusive of the Neotropics (Patterson 2020). Rodents (>640 species), bats (>300 spp), and carnivores (>84 spp) are, as in other parts of the world, the most diverse mammalian groups in this biogeographical region (Solari and Martinez-Arias 2014; Patton et al. 2015;Nagy-Reis et al. 2020). ...
Ecology has to do with the number of individuals or species in a biological population or community. Historically, the estimation of population size has been approached with different field methods and statistical analyses. One of the recent approaches to estimating population abundance, occupancy, and density is the use of hierarchical models. Essentially, these models integrate the ecological process (occupancy, abundance, and density) conditional to the observational process (the detection probability, usually <1.0) and estimate parameters through maximum likelihood and/or Bayesian statistical approaches. Occupancy, abundance, and density are central themes in many research projects, theses, and monitoring programs and have direct applications in the conservation and management of Neotropical mammal populations. In this introductory chapter, we briefly address these aspects to put in context the chapters that integrate this book.
... Unlike linear transections, camera traps operate 24 hours regardless of the presence of the researcher and can be set at strategic points of animal passage, ensuring a greater record of species. For certain groups, such as carnivores and armadillos, the camera trap method is the most appropriate (Santos et al. 2019;Nagy-Reis et al. 2020;Antunes et al. 2022). Fragoso et al. (2016) noted that the use of diverse methods favors a greater record of species due to sampling biases and focus groups. ...
The state of Rondônia harbors 185 of the 399 species of mammals recorded from the Amazon biome, which corresponds to 46.4% of the total number of species. The state is also an important center of diversity and endemism, especially due to the presence of major biogeographical barriers such as the rio Madeira. We employed trap cameras and track surveys to assess the mammal community in the Base de Selva da Polícia Militar in Rondônia state, Brazil. During one year of survey, we recorded 40 species of medium-sized and large mammals, and, in our study, we recorded the highest mammal richness for a locality in Rondônia, which highlights the importance of private protected areas for mammal conservation in the state. Camera-trap records also showed the occurrence of threatened species. Finally, we provide recommendations for additional studies in this region that is threatened by deforestation and expansion of agriculture.
