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Campos-Silva JV, Peres CA, Hawes JE, Abrahams MI, Andrade PCM, Davenport L. Community-based conservation with formal protection provides large collateral benefits to Amazonian migratory waterbirds. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0250022. [PMID: 33831125 PMCID: PMC8031428 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0250022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Populations of migratory waterbirds are facing dramatic declines worldwide due to illegal hunting, habitat loss and climate change. Conservation strategies to reverse these trends are imperative, especially in tropical developing countries, which almost invariably allocate insufficient levels of investment for environmental protection. Here, we compared the effectiveness of sustainable-use Protected Areas (PAs) and Community-based Conservation (CBC) arrangements for the conservation of migratory waterbirds that breed on seasonal riverine sandy beaches in Brazilian Amazonia. We modeled local population responses of four migratory waterbird species on 155 beaches along a ~1,600 km section of a major tributary of the Amazon, as a function of community enforcement, official protection status, human pressure and landscape features. We show that 21 community-protected beaches within the study area host more than 80% of all sampled birds. Black Skimmers showed the most dramatic response, with breeding numbers 135-fold larger in CBC arrangements compared to beaches with no official protection status. The same pattern was observed for nesting Large-Billed and Yellow-Billed Terns. For the Near Threatened Orinoco Goose, PA status was the strongest predictor of local population size. These dramatic results demonstrate the value of protected refugia, achieved through the concerted action of participating local communities, to support breeding populations of key waterbird species. This highly-effective and low-cost conservation model can potentially be replicated in other regions of the developing world experiencing increasingly intensive exploitation of riverine natural resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- João Vitor Campos-Silva
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.,Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, AL, Brazil
| | - Carlos A Peres
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Joseph E Hawes
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.,Applied Ecology Research Group, School of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Mark I Abrahams
- Field Conservation and Science Department, Bristol Zoological Society, Bristol, United Kingdom
| | - Paulo C M Andrade
- Departamento de Produção Animal e Vegetal, Laboratório de Animais Silvestres, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, AM, Brazil
| | - Lisa Davenport
- Department of Biology and Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States of America.,College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, Australia
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Wang B, Rocha DG, Abrahams MI, Antunes AP, Costa HCM, Gonçalves ALS, Spironello WR, de Paula MJ, Peres CA, Pezzuti J, Ramalho E, Reis ML, Carvalho Jr E, Rohe F, Macdonald DW, Tan CKW. Habitat use of the ocelot ( Leopardus pardalis) in Brazilian Amazon. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:5049-5062. [PMID: 31110661 PMCID: PMC6509378 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2018] [Revised: 01/24/2019] [Accepted: 02/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Amazonia forest plays a major role in providing ecosystem services for human and sanctuaries for wildlife. However, ongoing deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Brazilian Amazon has threatened both. The ocelot is an ecologically important mesopredator and a potential conservation ambassador species, yet there are no previous studies on its habitat preference and spatial patterns in this biome. From 2010 to 2017, twelve sites were surveyed, totaling 899 camera trap stations, the largest known dataset for this species. Using occupancy modeling incorporating spatial autocorrelation, we assessed habitat use for ocelot populations across the Brazilian Amazon. Our results revealed a positive sigmoidal correlation between remote-sensing derived metrics of forest cover, disjunct core area density, elevation, distance to roads, distance to settlements and habitat use, and that habitat use by ocelots was negatively associated with slope and distance to river/lake. These findings shed light on the regional scale habitat use of ocelots and indicate important species-habitat relationships, thus providing valuable information for conservation management and land-use planning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bingxin Wang
- Wildlife Conservation Research UnitDepartment of ZoologyThe Recanati‐Kaplan CentreUniversity of OxfordTubney, OxonUK
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental ChangeInstitute of BotanyThe Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Daniel G. Rocha
- Graduate Group in EcologyDepartment of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation BiologyUniversity of California DavisDavisCalifornia
- Grupo de Ecologia e Conservação de Felinos na AmazôniaInstituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável MamirauáTeféBrazil
| | - Mark I. Abrahams
- Field Conservation and Science DepartmentBristol Zoological SocietyBristolUK
| | - André P. Antunes
- Redefauna - Rede de Pesquisa em BiodiversidadeConservação e Uso da Fauna da AmazôniaManausBrazil
| | - Hugo C. M. Costa
- Programa de Pós‐graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da BiodiversidadeUniversidade Estadual de Santa CruzIlhéusBrazil
| | | | | | - Milton José de Paula
- Centre for Advanced Amazon StudiesUniversity of ParaAltamiraBrazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em EcologiaUniversidade Federal do Pará e EMBRAPA Amazônia OrientalBelémBrazil
| | - Carlos A. Peres
- School of Environmental ScienceCetre for Ecology, Evolution and ConservationUniversity of East AngliaNorwichUK
| | - Juarez Pezzuti
- Centre for Advanced Amazon StudiesUniversity of ParaAltamiraBrazil
| | | | | | - Elildo Carvalho Jr
- Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Mamíferos CarnívorosInstituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da BiodiversidadeAtibaiaBrazil
- Faculty of Ecology and Natural Resource ManagementNorwegian University of Life SciencesÅsNorway
| | - Fabio Rohe
- Programa de Pós‐graduação em Genética, Conservação e Biologia Evolutiva – GCBEvInstituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia – INPAManausBrazil
- Wildlife Conservation Society Brazil – Amazon ProgramManausBrazil
| | - David W. Macdonald
- Wildlife Conservation Research UnitDepartment of ZoologyThe Recanati‐Kaplan CentreUniversity of OxfordTubney, OxonUK
| | - Cedric Kai Wei Tan
- Wildlife Conservation Research UnitDepartment of ZoologyThe Recanati‐Kaplan CentreUniversity of OxfordTubney, OxonUK
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Costa HCM, Peres CA, Abrahams MI. Seasonal dynamics of terrestrial vertebrate abundance between Amazonian flooded and unflooded forests. PeerJ 2018; 6:e5058. [PMID: 29967733 PMCID: PMC6026452 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2018] [Accepted: 06/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The flood pulse is the main factor structuring and differentiating the ecological communities of Amazonian unflooded (terra firme) and seasonally-flooded (várzea) forests as they require unique adaptations to survive the prolonged annual floods. Therefore, várzea and terra firme forests hammer out a spatio-temporal mosaic of resource availability, which may result in landscape scale seasonal movements of terrestrial vertebrates between adjacent forest types. Yet the lateral movements of terrestrial vertebrates between hydrologically distinct neighbouring forest types exhibiting staggered resource availability remains poorly understood, despite the important implications of this spatial dynamic for the ecology and conservation of forest wildlife. We examined the hypothesis of terrestrial fauna seasonal movements between two adjacent forest types at two contiguous sustainable-use forest reserves in Western Brazilian Amazonia. We used camera trapping data on the overall species richness, composition, and abundance of nine major vertebrate trophic guilds to infer on terrestrial vertebrate movements as a function of seasonal changes in floodplain water level. Species richness differed in neighboring terra firme forests between the high-and low-water phases of the flood pulse and terra firme forests were more species rich than várzea forests. There were clear differences in species composition between both forest types and seasons. Generalized Linear Models showed that water level was the main factor explaining aggregate abundance of all species and three trophic guilds. Our results indicate that the persistence of viable populations of large terrestrial vertebrates adjacent to major Amazonian rivers requires large, well-connected forest landscapes encompassing different forest types to ensure large-scale lateral movements by forest wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo C M Costa
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Zoologia, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Belém, Brazil
| | - Carlos A Peres
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Mark I Abrahams
- Field Conservation and Science Department, Bristol Zoological Society, Bristol, United Kingdom
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark I. Abrahams
- School of Environmental Sciences; University of East Anglia; Norwich NR4 7TJ UK
| | - Carlos A. Peres
- School of Environmental Sciences; University of East Anglia; Norwich NR4 7TJ UK
| | - Hugo C. M. Costa
- Programa de Pós-graduação em Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade; Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz; Ilhéus Brazil
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Abrahams MI, Peres CA, Costa HCM. Measuring local depletion of terrestrial game vertebrates by central-place hunters in rural Amazonia. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0186653. [PMID: 29040340 PMCID: PMC5645145 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186653] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2017] [Accepted: 09/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The degree to which terrestrial vertebrate populations are depleted in tropical forests occupied by human communities has been the subject of an intense polarising debate that has important conservation implications. Conservation ecologists and practitioners are divided over the extent to which community-based subsistence offtake is compatible with ecologically functional populations of tropical forest game species. To quantify depletion envelopes of forest vertebrates around human communities, we deployed a total of 383 camera trap stations and 78 quantitative interviews to survey the peri-community areas controlled by 60 semi-subsistence communities over a combined area of over 3.2 million hectares in the Médio Juruá and Uatumã regions of Central-Western Brazilian Amazonia. Our results largely conform with prior evidence that hunting large-bodied vertebrates reduces wildlife populations near settlements, such that they are only found at a distance to settlements where they are hunted less frequently. Camera trap data suggest that a select few harvest-sensitive species, including lowland tapir, are either repelled or depleted by human communities. Nocturnal and cathemeral species were detected relatively more frequently in disturbed areas close to communities, but individual species did not necessarily shift their activity patterns. Group biomass of all species was depressed in the wider neighbourhood of urban areas rather than communities. Interview data suggest that species traits, especially group size and body mass, mediate these relationships. Large-bodied, large-group-living species are detected farther from communities as reported by experienced informants. Long-established communities in our study regions have not "emptied" the surrounding forest. Low human population density and low hunting offtake due to abundant sources of alternative aquatic protein, suggest that these communities represent a best-case scenario for sustainable hunting of wildlife for food, thereby providing a conservative assessment of game depletion. Given this 'best-case' camera trap and interview-based evidence for hunting depletion, regions with higher human population densities, external trade in wildlife and limited access to alternative protein will likely exhibit more severe depletion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark I. Abrahams
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Carlos A. Peres
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, United Kingdom
| | - Hugo C. M. Costa
- PPG Ecologia e Conservação da Biodiversidade, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, Brazil
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