Prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain river islands
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is widely distributed across a broad range of habitat types, where its feeding habits and habitat use patterns vary significantly. The jaguar and its main arboreal prey – the brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) and the red howler monkey (Alouatta juara) – are widesp...
| Autor principal: | Rabelo, Rafael M. |
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| Outros Autores: | Aragón, Susan, Bicca-Marques, Júlio César |
| Grau: | Artigo |
| Idioma: | English |
| Publicado em: |
Acta Oecologica
2020
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| Acesso em linha: |
https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/16689 |
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oai:repositorio:1-16689 |
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oai:repositorio:1-16689 Prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain river islands Rabelo, Rafael M. Aragón, Susan Bicca-Marques, Júlio César Abundance Bayesian Analysis Ecological Modeling Feeding Behavior Felid Floodplain Forest Ecosystem Habitat Type Habitat Use Island Nature Reserve Predator-prey Interaction Primate Alouatta Alouatta Seniculus Bradypus Variegatus Mammalia Panthera Onca Sloths The jaguar (Panthera onca) is widely distributed across a broad range of habitat types, where its feeding habits and habitat use patterns vary significantly. The jaguar and its main arboreal prey – the brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) and the red howler monkey (Alouatta juara) – are widespread in the Amazonian floodplain forests of the Mamirauá Reserve. These forest-dwelling species are the most common mammal species both in the continuous forest and the forest patches surrounded by a river matrix – the fluvial islands – of the Solimões and Japurá rivers. We used sign surveys along line-transects to assess the pattern of habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain forests. Specifically, we (i) tested whether habitat occupancy by jaguars differs between river islands and continuous forest; and (ii) evaluated whether and how the local abundance of sloths and howler monkeys influence the probability of site occupancy by jaguars. We built an occupancy model and used Bayesian inference to reach these goals. The proportion of sites estimated to be used by jaguars was ψ = 0.75 (HPD95: 0.36–1.00), and it did not differ between islands and continuous forest. The abundance of both prey species had a direct influence on jaguar's habitat use, whereas the aquatic matrix seems to have a negligible effect on the use of islands by jaguars. We conclude that the isolation of the river islands within the aquatic matrix does not hamper jaguars to use them. We also conclude that prey search modulates jaguars’ habitat occupancy patterns with both prey species having a similar effect. This finding is compatible with the previously reported importance of sloths to the diet of jaguars in the study region despite its lower abundance than howlers. Finally, we suggest that sign surveys are an alternative method to assess the pattern of jaguar habitat occupancy in floodplain forests. © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS 2020-06-15T21:35:46Z 2020-06-15T21:35:46Z 2019 Artigo https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/16689 10.1016/j.actao.2019.04.004 en Volume 97, Pags. 28-33 Restrito Acta Oecologica |
| institution |
Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia - Repositório Institucional |
| collection |
INPA-RI |
| language |
English |
| topic |
Abundance Bayesian Analysis Ecological Modeling Feeding Behavior Felid Floodplain Forest Ecosystem Habitat Type Habitat Use Island Nature Reserve Predator-prey Interaction Primate Alouatta Alouatta Seniculus Bradypus Variegatus Mammalia Panthera Onca Sloths |
| spellingShingle |
Abundance Bayesian Analysis Ecological Modeling Feeding Behavior Felid Floodplain Forest Ecosystem Habitat Type Habitat Use Island Nature Reserve Predator-prey Interaction Primate Alouatta Alouatta Seniculus Bradypus Variegatus Mammalia Panthera Onca Sloths Rabelo, Rafael M. Prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain river islands |
| topic_facet |
Abundance Bayesian Analysis Ecological Modeling Feeding Behavior Felid Floodplain Forest Ecosystem Habitat Type Habitat Use Island Nature Reserve Predator-prey Interaction Primate Alouatta Alouatta Seniculus Bradypus Variegatus Mammalia Panthera Onca Sloths |
| description |
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is widely distributed across a broad range of habitat types, where its feeding habits and habitat use patterns vary significantly. The jaguar and its main arboreal prey – the brown-throated sloth (Bradypus variegatus) and the red howler monkey (Alouatta juara) – are widespread in the Amazonian floodplain forests of the Mamirauá Reserve. These forest-dwelling species are the most common mammal species both in the continuous forest and the forest patches surrounded by a river matrix – the fluvial islands – of the Solimões and Japurá rivers. We used sign surveys along line-transects to assess the pattern of habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain forests. Specifically, we (i) tested whether habitat occupancy by jaguars differs between river islands and continuous forest; and (ii) evaluated whether and how the local abundance of sloths and howler monkeys influence the probability of site occupancy by jaguars. We built an occupancy model and used Bayesian inference to reach these goals. The proportion of sites estimated to be used by jaguars was ψ = 0.75 (HPD95: 0.36–1.00), and it did not differ between islands and continuous forest. The abundance of both prey species had a direct influence on jaguar's habitat use, whereas the aquatic matrix seems to have a negligible effect on the use of islands by jaguars. We conclude that the isolation of the river islands within the aquatic matrix does not hamper jaguars to use them. We also conclude that prey search modulates jaguars’ habitat occupancy patterns with both prey species having a similar effect. This finding is compatible with the previously reported importance of sloths to the diet of jaguars in the study region despite its lower abundance than howlers. Finally, we suggest that sign surveys are an alternative method to assess the pattern of jaguar habitat occupancy in floodplain forests. © 2019 Elsevier Masson SAS |
| format |
Artigo |
| author |
Rabelo, Rafael M. |
| author2 |
Aragón, Susan Bicca-Marques, Júlio César |
| author2Str |
Aragón, Susan Bicca-Marques, Júlio César |
| title |
Prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain river islands |
| title_short |
Prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain river islands |
| title_full |
Prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain river islands |
| title_fullStr |
Prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain river islands |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in Amazonian floodplain river islands |
| title_sort |
prey abundance drives habitat occupancy by jaguars in amazonian floodplain river islands |
| publisher |
Acta Oecologica |
| publishDate |
2020 |
| url |
https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/handle/1/16689 |
| _version_ |
1787143182019985408 |
| score |
11.755432 |