Identifying key sites for connecting jaguar populations in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

Networks of protected areas play a key role for large carnivore conservation since habitat fragmentation and population isolation are strong threats for them. We evaluated the contribution of the Protected Jaguar Areas (PJAs) and other forest fragments (1217 patches) to habitat availability and connectivity for jaguars in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We used habitat availability indices to rank the PJAs and the forest fragments according to their importance to different aspects of landscape connectivity. We also analyzed the protection degree of the forest fragments with greater importance for connectivity. PJAs represented 37% of the total amount of habitat area and 34% of the equivalent connected area of the whole network, suggesting that PJAs contribute only modestly to the habitat availability and connectivity of the complete network. The individual classification showed that the majority of PJAs did not contribute expressively in terms of intrapatch connectivity (65%) or to the connectivity among other patches (74%). Twenty-six forest fragments were identified by the rank analysis. They increased the equivalent connected area index of the PJAs network between 3.8 and 4.1 times. Nearly half of the connector fragments' area (44.4%) is not under any degree of protection, and 34.8% of them are under the protection of sustainable use protected areas (IUCN categories V-VI). As umbrella and/or flagship species, the effective protection of jaguars may also benefit other species. Therefore, results indicate that the inclusion of the connector fragments in more restrictive protection categories (strict protection protected areas), associated with active population and habitat management strategies, might enhance habitat connectivity and availability not only for jaguars, but also for many other species in the Atlantic Forest.

Protected area connectivity: Shortfalls in global targets and country-level priorities

“…2 ). However, Saura et al (2017) reported PA connectivity to be much higher in the Amazon than in the Atlantic forest ecoregions of Brazil, agreeing with the modest levels of connectivity for jaguars provided by PAs in the Brazilian Atlantic forests as found by Diniz et al (2017) . Fajardo et al (2014) also found a similar pattern in Peru, with the coastal region having significantly lower levels of protection and PA connectivity than the Amazon region of this country.…”

Estudios de conectividad del paisaje en América Latina: retos de investigación

“…Desafortunadamente ningún trabajo se realizó en El Salvador, Paraguay y Nicaragua. Las principales acciones y tipos de coberturas identificados se relacionan con: a) la conectividad estructural y genética para diferentes especies focales en selvas tropicales (Moraes et al, 2018); b) identificación de sitios clave para la conectividad de poblaciones en mamíferos en bosques (Diniz et al, 2017); c) actualización de áreas naturales protegidas para la conservación de plantas y fauna en peligro de extinción en bosques (Cardoso da Silva et al, 2018); d) construcción de paisajes agrícolas para la conservación de mamíferos terrestres (Hardt et al, 2015).…”

Monitoring Urban Green Infrastructure Changes and Impact on Habitat Connectivity Using High-Resolution Satellite Data

“…The equivalent connected area (ECA) index, which can be derived directly from PC, is also useful for comparing temporal changes to landscape connectivity since it represents the size of one habitat patch that would provide the same connectivity probability value as the habitat pattern in the landscape examined [54]. The PC index has been increasingly used in landscape ecological assessments [55][56][57]. PC, its component fractions and ECA have been used in this study to assess changes in habitat availability and connectivity for two species sensitive to urbanization in Stockholm City.…”