Using occupancy modeling to provide insights into suitable habitat characteristics for the already restricted and critically endangered Olalla's titi monkey (Plecturocebus olallae)

Abstract

Knowledge about changes in wildlife populations over time is essential for making informed decisions regarding their conservation. We evaluated the influence of distinct habitat factors on the occupancy of Olalla's titi monkey (Plecturocebus olallae), a Critically Endangered primate endemic to Bolivia. We assessed the presence of titi monkey groups using the playback technique, employing point counts in 582 quadrants of approximately 6.25 hectares. Utilizing single-species and single-season occupancy models, we estimated an occupancy (ψ) of 0.21 and found that the presence of P. olallae groups was positively related to heterogenous plant composition forests which indicates they may be more likely to occur in areas of high floristic diversity. We also found that groups of this already range restricted species do not occur in all the forest coverage within their distributional range. This complements previous considerations regarding the habitat in which P. olallae occurs based on its natural history knowledge and highlights the limited suitable habitat for this species. From our sampling effort, we calculated a power of 81% to detect a population change of 30%, showing the potential of occupancy modeling for population monitoring of P. olallae. Thus, we provide an information baseline that will be useful in further population monitoring actions for the conservation of these endemic Bolivian titi monkeys.