| Popis: |
This repository contains supplementary information regarding the paper "Walking on their own legs: unassisted population growth of agoutis reintroduced to restore seed dispersal in an Atlantic Forest reserve", authored by Caio Fittipaldi Kenup, Raissa Sepulvida, Catharina Kreischer and Fernando Antonio dos Santos Fernandez Contained here are: R Scripts and Functions used to carry out the analyses (.R) Full carried-out analyses (.RData) Raw data files used as input (.csv). Supplementary Tables as Published (.xlsx) Abstract from the paper: Reintroduction of locally extirpated species populations is an increasingly popular conservation tool. However, few initiatives are made focusing on the restoration of ecological processes. In addition, many reintroductions fail to conduct post-release monitoring, hampering both assessment of its success and implementation of adaptive management actions. A reintroduction effort to reestablish a population of the red-humped agouti (Dasyprocta leporina), a scatterhoarding rodent known to be an important large-sized seed disperser, started in 2009 with the aim of restoring ecological processes at Tijuca National Park, Southeast Brazil. To assess the successful establishment of this reintroduced population, we monitored it through mark-resighting from late 2013 to early 2015. Population size and survival were estimated using a robust design Poisson-log-normal mixed-effects mark-resight model. By March 2015, wild-born individuals fluctuated around 30 individuals and overall growth of the population was positive. As the reintroduced population is capable of unassisted growth, we conclude that the reintroduction has been successful on the medium-term. We suggest that releases should be ceased and efforts redirected to continued monitoring, investigation and management of possible threats to persistence, and to quantification of the reestablishment of ecological processes. Reintroduction of D. leporina populations can be a highly cost-effective tool to restore ecological processes, especially seed dispersal, in Neotropical forests. Disclaimer: For data protection reasons, the photographic records .csv sheet has been truncated to two stations and 12 days of sampling, providing only a toy example. Nevertheless, the summarised data and analysis present on the .RData files represent the full set of records. |
