Environmental factors influencing the abundance of four species of threatened mammals in degraded habitats in the eastern Brazilian Amazon

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 2; p. e0229459
• Main Authors: Teixeira-Santos, Juliana, Ribeiro, Ana Carolina da Cunha, Wiig, Øystein, Pinto, Nelson Silva, Cantanhêde, Lorrane Gabrielle, Sena, Leonardo, Mendes-Oliveira, Ana Cristina
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 26.02.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Aluminum; Animals; Anthropogenic factors; Beef cattle; Biodiversity; Biology and Life Sciences; Brazil; Conservation of Natural Resources; Deforestation; Ecological monitoring; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Ecosystem; Ecosystems; Endangered & extinct species; Endangered animals; Endangered Species; Engineering and Technology; Environment; Environmental degradation; Environmental factors; Forests; Habitat destruction; Habitats; Human influences; Land degradation; Mammals; Mammals - classification; Mining; Myrmecophaga tridactyla; Novels; People and places; Population Density; Pressure; Priodontes maximus; Rainforests; Regeneration; Stress concentration; Studies; Survival; Tapirus terrestris; Tayassu pecari; Terrestrial environments; Threatened species; Vegetation; Wildlife conservation; Brazil; South America
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0229459

On the latest 60 years the degradation and fragmentation of native habitats have been modifying the landscape in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. The adaptive plasticity of an organism has been crucial for its long-term survival and success in these novel ecosystems. In this study, we investigated the response of four endangered species of large terrestrial mammals to the variations in the quality of their original habitats, in a context of high anthropogenic pressure. The distribution of the Myrmecophaga tridactyla (Giant anteater), Priodontes maximus (Giant armadillo), Tapirus terrestris (Lowland tapir) and Tayassu pecari (White-lipped peccary) in all sampled habitats suggests their tolerance to degradation. However, the survival ability of each species in the different habitats was not the same. Among the four species, T. pecari seems to be the one with the least ability to survive in more altered environments. The positive influence of the anthropogenically altered habitats on abundances of three of the four species studied, as observed at the regeneration areas, can be considered as a potential indication of the ecological trap phenomenon. This study reinforces the importance of the forest remnants for the survival of endangered mammal species, in regions of high anthropogenic pressure, as in the eastern Brazilian Amazon.