The white-fronted spider monkey, Ateles marginatus, is an endangered species according to IUCN. Endemic to Brazilian Amazonia, its status is due to a combination of a relatively restricted geogaphic distribution and the growing human presence within this area. The present study focussed on the BR-163 (Santarém-Cuiabá) highway, on the right bank of the lower Rio Tapajós, a region of prolonged and intense human occupation. The principal aim of the present study was an evaluation of the distribution and abundance of A. marginatus within this area, and analysis of the factors determining these variables. Residents were interviewed informally at 16 sites in order to confirm the presence or absence of the species. Line transect population surveys were conducted at eight sites, representing differing degrees of habitat fragmentation, with a total transect length of 697.6 km. Groups of A. marginatus were monitored at two sites for the collection of data on their behaviour and ecology. The results indicate that the species is absent from some areas, including natural lacunae in its distribution as well as a zone of local extinction, that appears to extend as least as far as 60 km south of the city of Santarém. A total of 23 species of nonflying mammals were recorded in the population surveys, but the presence of A. marginatus was confirmed at only three sites. The study indicates that isolated fragments of forest of less than one hundred hectares are unable to support populations of A. marginatus. In the case of larger fragments, the presence and abundance of the species appears to be influenced more directly by human factors (hunting and logging). The species seems to be relatively rare even in continuous forest, which is similar to other populations of Ateles in Brazilian Amazonia. Two groups, one with eight members and the other with at least twenty, were identified during monitoring. As in other members of the genus, the formation of subgroups (fission-fusion), a relatively high proportion of females in the population and a frugivorous diet are also observed in A. marginatus. The study reveals the critical situation of the species in the region, in the face of human occupation, and the urgent need both to deter the process of habitat fragmentation and establish new protected areas.
|
