Medium- And Large-Sized Mammals in a Protected Area of Atlantic Forest in the Northeast of Brazil

Abstract

This is the first survey of medium-and large-sized mammals for the Private Reserve of Natural Heritage Complex (RPPN) Serra Bonita, in southern Bahia, Brazil. RPPN Serra Bonita is one of the largest private reserves in the Central Corridor of the Atlantic Forest. This study aims to fill a knowledge gap in this area by describing the medium-and large-sized mammals species richness observed in the RPPN Serra Bonita. We installed 19 camera traps for two consecutive years, from November 2010 to November 2012 (sample effort 13.870 camera-days). In addition, some species were recorded using tracks and/or direct observations in the field. We recorded 22 species, including endemic and threatened species, distributed in seven orders: Cetartiodactyla, Carnivora, Cingulata, Lagomorpha, Pilosa, Primates and Rodentia. The crabeating fox, Cerdocyon thous, was the most recorded species. We also recorded some threatened species, like Leopardus guttulus (VU) and Sapajus xanthosternos (CR). Species richness at RPPN Serra Bonita was higher than that found in other studies conducted in the Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia. The Clench model had a good fit with 96% of the expected mammals recorded in the reserve. This suggests that RPPN Serra Bonita protects a high species richness of medium-and large-sized mammals. Therefore, this small area should be considered a hotpoint within the Atlantic Forest hotspot.

The prey of the Harpy Eagle in its last reproductive refuges in the Atlantic Forest

“…Based on the list of known mammals found in the studied reserves, we indicated which species could be potential prey for Harpy Eagles. We verified the list by Srbek-Araujo and Kierulff 48 for VNR and SBR, the list by Falcão et al 46 for VS-PNHR, and the list by Sánchez-Lalinde et al 49 for SB-PNHR. We considered potential prey to be those belonging to the species or genera recorded in the Harpy Eagle’s diet and within the weight distribution of the prey consumed by the Harpy Eagle in this study (Supplementary Table 1 ).…”

“…Most of the species in the Harpy Eagle’s diet in BA and ES were similar. Even though we observed only six different species between both regions, three ( Eira barbara , Dasypus novemcinctus , and Dasyprocta leporina ) are found in all four protected areas in which the study was conducted 46 , 48 , 49 , suggesting that these species rate high as potential prey for Harpy Eagles in all reserves.…”

“…They weight less than the species we found (Supplementary Table 1 ), and their genera, Callithrix , Leontopithecus , and Callistomys , have not been observed in the Harpy Eagle’s prey in previous studies. Moreover, the presence of Leontopithecus chrysomelas and Callistomys pictus were not confirmed in the list of mammals of the SB-PNHR provided by Sánchez-Lalinde et al 49 .…”

“…There are 36 known species of medium-sized and large mammals in VNR and SBR 48 , 33 in VS-PNHR 46 , and 22 in SB-PNHR 49 . In all, the assemblage of medium-sized and large mammals recorded in the study area consists of 45 species (Supplementary Table 1 ).…”

“…We captured close-up images using the Leica LAS EZ 3.0 software and compared them with images from the Guia de Identificação de Pelos de Mamíferos Brasileiros (Hair Identification Guide for Brazilian Mammals) 43 and other literature to identify the species 44 , 45 . When the morphological analyses only enabled us to identify prey at the genus level, we consulted available species lists for the nests’ region to identify the most likely candidate 46 – 49 .…”