Jaguar Densities across Human-Dominated Landscapes in Colombia: The Contribution of Unprotected Areas to Long Term Conservation

Autor: George B. Schaller, Valeria Boron, Esteban Payán, Jorge Barragan, Jenny Gallo, Joseph Tzanopoulos, Laura Jaimes-Rodriguez
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
0106 biological sciences
Jaguar
lcsh:Medicine
Predation
QH75
Forests
01 natural sciences
Geographical locations
Oil Palm
lcsh:Science
Conservation Science
Mammals
education.field_of_study
Multidisciplinary
geography.geographical_feature_category
Ecology
biology
Agriculture
Ruminants
Panthera onca
Plants
Terrestrial Environments
Trophic Interactions
Habitats
Community Ecology
Vertebrates
Research Article
Conservation of Natural Resources
Livestock
Population
Colombia
010603 evolutionary biology
Ecosystems
Jaguars
Bovines
biology.animal
Animals
Humans
Panthera
Keystone species
education
Ecosystem
Riparian zone
Population Density
geography
Land use
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
lcsh:R
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Organisms
Biology and Life Sciences
South America
Amniotes
Cats
Biological dispersal
lcsh:Q
Cattle
People and places
Zdroj: PLoS ONE
PLoS ONE, Vol 11, Iss 5, p e0153973 (2016)
ISSN: 1932-6203
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153973
Popis: Large carnivores such as jaguars (Panthera onca) are species of conservation concern because they are suffering population declines and are keystone species in their ecosystems. Their large area requirements imply that unprotected and ever-increasing agricultural regions can be important habitats as they allow connectivity and dispersal among core protected areas. Yet information on jaguar densities across unprotected landscapes it is still scarce and crucially needed to assist management and range-wide conservation strategies. Our study provides the first jaguar density estimates of Colombia in agricultural regions which included cattle ranching, the main land use in the country, and oil palm cultivation, an increasing land use across the Neotropics. We used camera trapping across two agricultural landscapes located in the Magdalena River valley and in the Colombian llanos (47–53 stations respectively; >2000 trap nights at both sites) and classic and spatially explicit capture-recapture models with the sex of individuals as a covariate. Density estimates were 2.52±0.46–3.15±1.08 adults/100 km2 in the Magdalena valley, whereas 1.12±0.13–2.19±0.99 adults/100 km2 in the Colombian llanos, depending on analysis used. We suggest that jaguars are able to live across unprotected human-use areas and co-exist with agricultural landscapes including oil-palm plantations if natural areas and riparian habitats persist in the landscape and hunting of both jaguar and prey is limited. In the face of an expanding agriculture across the tropics we recommend land-use planning, adequate incentives, regulations, and good agricultural practices for range-wide jaguar connectivity and survival.
Databáze: OpenAIRE