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ACI Avances en Ciencias e Ingenierías

SECTION B: LIFE SCIENCES

Vol. 4 No. 2 (2012)

Effects of deforestation and fragmentation on the fauna of land mammals and varzea forests of the northern Ecuadorian Amazon

DOI
https://doi.org/10.18272/aci.v4i2.104
Submitted
September 29, 2015
Published
2012-12-28

Abstract

From April 2008 through May 2009, we carried out two complementary studies to evaluate the effects of deforestation and fragmentation on the diversity of terrestrial mammals and on the behavior of the primate Callithrix pygmaea (pygmy marmoset) in varzea forests in the land of the Secoya nationality, along the Shushufindi and Aguarico Rivers. To record terrestrial mammals we located four camera traps in the varzea forest of the Ethnobotanical Garden Sehuayeja, in an area affected by deforestation, fragmentation and hunting, and other four camera traps in the better-conserved varzea forest of Siecoya. Camera traps were located in animal trails or in feeding areas (fruiting trees). To record the behavior of three groups of pygmy marmosets we used scan samples along the day to gather data on group size, home range size and use of habitat and of exudate sources. Our results suggest that the communities of terrestrial mammals are being affected by deforestation and fragmentation. We recorded 16 mammal species in the Siecoya varzea and 12 species in the Sehuayeja varzea. The number of species recorded per active camera in the Siecoya varzea almost doubled that recorded in the Sehuayeja varzea (2.63 species/camera ± 1.87 vs.1.34 species/camera ± 0.93). Four carnivore species (mainly felids) and the tapir were not recorded in the Sehuayeja varzea but in the Siecoya varzea. Deforestation and fragmentation of varzea forests also affected the use of habitat and the feeding behavior of pygmy marmosets. Mean home range size was almost three times larger than that reported in previous years in the same population. Additionally, groups exhibited a "nomad" behavior, not previously reported, characterized by the intermittent use of small core areas and large periods of continuous movement among core areas. We also reported the use of a new exudates species (Cedrela odorata) in this population. Our results suggest that the responses of mammal populations to deforestation and fragmentation are complex and need to be studied in more depth.

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