Biodiversity Data Journal :
Research Article
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Corresponding author: Ademir Henrique Vilas Boas (ademirvilasboas@hotmail.com), Ricardo Moratelli (ricardo.moratelli@fiocruz.br)
Academic editor: Anne Ropiquet
Received: 11 Feb 2022 | Accepted: 23 Mar 2022 | Published: 11 Apr 2022
© 2022 Ademir Henrique Vilas Boas, Iuri Veríssimo, Roberto Novaes, Gabriel Cupolillo, Cecilia de Andreazzi, Sócrates Costa-Neto, Ricardo Moratelli
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation:
Vilas Boas AH, Veríssimo I, Novaes RLM, Cupolillo G, de Andreazzi CS, Costa-Neto SF, Moratelli R (2022) Survey of medium- and large-sized mammals in Atlantic Forest remnants of Conceição dos Ouros, Minas Gerais, Brazil. Biodiversity Data Journal 10: e82139. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.10.e82139
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Conceição dos Ouros is located in the Mantiqueira mountain range (elevation: 831‒1443 m a.s.l.), State of Minas Gerais, southeast Brazil. The largest two Atlantic Forest remnants of the Municipality of Conceição dos Ouros total more than 2,000 ha and the main vegetation type is seasonal semi-deciduous forest, isolated by a matrix of agricultural fields and pasture. The Municipality does not have any protected areas and is located in a highly fragmented region, albeit considered of special importance for the conservation of terrestrial vertebrates in the State of Minas Gerais. Due to a cooperation with the Municipality of Conceição dos Ouros to carry out a survey of the local biodiversity, in this study we present the results of the survey of medium- and large-sized terrestrial mammals from the two forest remnants in the region. Sampling was performed from July 2019 to August 2021 and comprised a camera trap survey, active searching including direct (e.g. carcass sightings) and indirect (e.g. footprints and faeces) evidence of species presence and interviews with residents. Twenty-nine native and two non-native species were documented. Ten species are in some category of threat of extinction at regional, national or global levels. This is the first survey of the terrestrial mammal fauna in the area of Conceição dos Ouros and results could be helpful in designing conservation strategies at the local scale.
Camera traps, conservation, diversity, endangered species, Mammalia
Brazil has one of the highest numbers of mammalian diversity in the world, with more than 760 species documented (
Habitat loss and fragmentation are the leading threats to mammals (
Biodiversity conservation strategies at a local scale should be designed, based on an understanding of the occurrence and distribution of species (
Individualised records of medium- and large-sized mammals from Conceição dos Ouros, MG, registered by camera trap, is available in Suppl. material
The study was conducted in the Municipality of Conceição dos Ouros, embedded in the Mantiqueira mountain range, southern Minas Gerais, at an elevation of 831‒1443 m a.s.l. Conceição dos Ouros has 2,062 ha of Atlantic Forest remnants, which comprise 11% of the municipality’s area (Fig.
The Serra do Sertãozinho (
The region’s climate is subtropical highland (Cwb;
The study was conducted from July 2019 to August 2021 and comprised a camera trap survey, interviews with farm workers and residents of the fragments’ surroundings (
For the camera trap survey, eight Trophy Cam trail cameras (Bushnell, Overland Parks, KS, USA) were placed at ca. 40 cm above the ground. Cameras were installed randomly in spots where animals are expected to pass, such as trails, forest clearings and near small water bodies (Fig.
All mid- to large-sized mammals with body weight > 1.0 kg were included (
The sampling effort was calculated by multiplying the number of camera traps by the number of active sampling days (unit: camera-days;
The camera trap survey, interviews and other direct and secondary evidence revealed the occurrence of 31 species of wild terrestrial mammals, including 29 native and two non-native species distributed in six orders, 16 families and 26 genera (Table
Species of medium and large mammals recorded by camera traps (ct), capture (cp), carcass (ca), faeces (fe), footprints (fp), interviews (i) and visualisation (v) in the Atlantic Forest remnants of Conceição dos Ouros, MG, including their classification into feeding habits and conservation status at regional (
Taxa |
Common name |
Feeding habit |
Record type |
Conservation Status |
||
MG |
Brazil |
Global |
||||
Artiodactyla |
||||||
Cervidae |
||||||
Mazama gouazoubira |
Grey brocket |
Herbivore/Frugivore |
ct, fp; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Tayassuidae |
||||||
Dicotyles tajacu* |
Collared peccary |
Omnivore |
ct; fp; i |
VU |
LC |
LC |
Suidae |
||||||
Sus scrofa** |
Wild boar |
Frugivore/Herbivore |
ct; fp; i |
Invasive |
Invasive |
LC |
Cingulata |
||||||
Dasypodidae |
||||||
Dasypus novemcinctus |
Nine-banded armadillo |
Omnivore/ Insectivore |
ct; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Euphractus sexcinctus |
Six-banded armadillo |
Omnivore |
ct; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Carnivora |
||||||
Canidae |
||||||
Cerdocyon thous |
Crab-eating fox |
Omnivore |
ct |
- |
LC |
LC |
Chrysocyon brachyurus* |
Maned wolf |
Omnivore |
ct; i; fe |
VU |
VU |
NT |
Felidae |
||||||
Leopardus guttulus* |
Southern tigrina |
Carnivore |
ct, i |
VU |
VU |
VU |
Leopardus pardalis* |
Ocelot |
Carnivore |
ct; i; ca |
VU |
LC |
LC |
Puma concolor* |
Puma |
Carnivore |
ct; fp; i |
VU |
VU |
LC |
Puma yagouaroundi* |
Jaguarundi |
Carnivore |
ct; i |
VU |
LC |
|
Mustelidae |
||||||
Eira barbara |
Tayra |
Omnivore |
ct; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Galictis vittata |
Greater grison |
Carnivore |
i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Lontra longicaudis* |
Neotropical otter |
Carnivore |
i |
VU |
LC |
NT |
Procyonidae |
||||||
Nasua nasua |
Coati |
Omnivore |
ct; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Procyon cancrivorus |
Crab-eating raccoon |
Frugivore/ Omnivore |
ct; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Didelphimorphia |
||||||
Didelphidae |
||||||
Didelphis albiventris |
White-eared opossum |
Omnivore |
cp; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Didelphis aurita |
Black-eared opossum |
Omnivore |
cp; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Lagomorpha |
||||||
Leporidae |
||||||
Lepus europaeus** |
European hare |
Herbivore |
i |
Invasive |
Invasive |
LC |
Sylvilagus sp. |
Tapeti |
Herbivore |
i |
- |
- |
LC |
Pilosa |
||||||
Bradypodidae |
||||||
Bradypus variegatus |
Brown-throated sloth |
Herbivore |
i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Primates |
||||||
Atelidae |
||||||
Alouatta guariba clamitans* |
Southern brown howler |
Herbivore |
i; v |
VU |
VU |
LC |
Callitrichidae |
||||||
Callithrix aurita* |
Buffy-tufted marmoset |
Omnivore |
i |
EN |
EN |
VU |
Callithrix penicillata |
Black-tufted marmoset |
Omnivore |
e; v |
- |
LC |
LC |
Cebidae |
||||||
Sapajus nigritus |
Black capuchin |
Omnivore |
ct; i; v |
- |
LC |
NT |
Pitheciidae |
||||||
Callicebus nigrifrons* |
Black-fronted titi |
Omnivore |
i |
EN |
VU |
VU |
Rodentia |
||||||
Caviidae |
||||||
Cavia aperea |
Brazilian guinea pig |
Herbivore |
i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris |
Capybara |
Herbivore |
ct; fp; i; fe; v |
- |
LC |
LC |
Cuniculidae |
||||||
Cuniculus paca |
Lowland paca |
Frugivore/Herbivore |
ct; i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Dasyproctidae |
||||||
Dasyprocta leporina |
Red-rumped agouti |
Frugivore/Herbivore |
i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Erethizontidae |
||||||
Coendou spinosus |
Paraguayan hairy dwarf porcupine |
Frugivore |
i |
- |
LC |
LC |
Twenty species were detected by camera traps, five by active searching and eight species were identified from interviews. Of the 20 species detected by the camera traps, Didelphis spp., Dicotyles tajacu (collared peccary) and Eira barbara (tayra) were the most frequent, accounting for 13.9%, 7.1% and 5.2% of all detections, respectively.
The Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H’) was 2.27 and 2.41 for the Mata da Bexiga and Serra do Sertãozinho fragments, respectively. The Simpson Index was 0.82 and 0.86 for Mata da Bexiga and Serra do Sertãozinho, respectively (Table
Shannon–Wiener Diversity Index (H’) and Simpson Index for the Mata da Bexiga and Serra do Sertãozinho fragments.
estimator | observed | estimated | standard error | CI (95% lower) | CI (95% upper) | |
Bexiga | ||||||
Shannon | 2.272 | 2.363 | 0.108 | 2.272 | 2.576 | |
Simpson | 0.822 | 0.826 | 0.018 | 0.822 | 0.861 | |
Sertãozinho | ||||||
Shannon | 2.41 | 2.482 | 0.088 | 2.41 | 2.654 | |
Simpson | 0.861 | 0.864 | 0.011 | 0.861 | 0.885 |
Total estimated species number of mid- and large-sized mammals was 22 with the Jackknife1 estimator using camera trap data only (Fig.
Accumulation curve of mid- and large-sized mammals recorded by camera traps in the remnants of vegetation in the Municipality Conceição dos Ouros, MG. The lower curve indicates the accumulation of observed species. The upper curve indicates the number of species estimated for the study area.
Accumulation curve of mid- and large-sized mammals recorded by camera traps, interviews and active searches in the remnants of vegetation in the Municipality Conceição dos Ouros, MG. The lower curve indicates the accumulation of observed species. The upper curve indicates the number of species estimated for the study area.
Of the 31 mammal species recorded, seven are coded as Vulnerable (Alouatta guariba, Chrysocyon brachyurus, Leopardus guttulus, Leopardus pardalis, Lontra longicaudis, Dicotyles tajacu and Puma concolor) and two as Endangered (Callicebus nigrifrons and Callithrix aurita) in the Minas Gerais Red List (
The richness of native mammals reported for Conceição dos Ouros comprises 3.8% of all mammal species recorded from Brazil, 11.9% of mammals documented for Minas Gerais and 11.1% of terrestrial mammals that occur in the Atlantic Forest (
As observed by
The Shannon-Wienner Diversity (H') and Simpson's Heterogeneity (1/D) Indices did not present significant differences, although the Simpson Index presents a significant value, demonstrating that there are no tendencies towards dominance of some species.The lower the anthropogenic interference, the higher the H', that is, the index of Diversity is related to the degree of disturbance to the environment. A study in small forest remnants, with areas ranging from 5.4 ha to 15 ha, carried out in the Atlantic Forest, in northern Paraná, recorded diversity indices ranging from 1.97 to 2.02, respectively. From these comparisons, it is observed that, in Atlantic Forest areas, values of the Shannon-Wienner Index greater than 2.0 are recorded only in heterogeneous habitats in a good state of conservation (
We highlight the occurrence of game species, such as the collared peccary (Dicotyles tajacu), agouti (Dasyprocta leporina), lowland paca (Cuniculus paca) and Brazilian guinea pig (Cavia aperea) that are extensively hunted in other localities. Hunting, even on a small scale, together with habitat fragmentation and the introduction of non-native species, is one of the major threats to mammal conservation (
The presence of an area that serves as an natural corridor, structurally connecting the two fragments, probably contributes to the occurrence of mammal species that require large home ranges, such as the maned wolf and the puma (
The occurrence of endangered species of large carnivores and primates in the study area highlights the need for developing conservation programmes for these species (
Dr. Liliani Marilia Tiepolo (Universidade Federal do Paraná, Campus Litoral-UFPR) assisted in the identification of cervids. A previous version of this manuscript was edited and revised by Publicase Comunicação Científica. RM has received support from CNPq (313963/2018-5) and FAPERJ (E-26/203.274/2017, E-26/210.254/2018, E-26/200.967/2021). This study was supported in part by Prefeitura Municipal de Conceição dos Ouros, MG; and Programa de Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade e Saúde, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz - Fiocruz
AHVB, RM, SFCN, IV and CSA designed the project; AHVB, SFCN, IV and GC performed fieldwork; AHVB, IV and RM identified specimens; AHVB, IV, CSA and RM contributed in data analyses; all authors wrote the first draft, read and approved the final version.
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests.
Individualised records of medium- and large-sized mammals from Conceicao dos Ouros, registered by camera trap.