The potential for large-scale wildlife corridors between protected areas in Brazil using the jaguar as a model species

Most large reserves in Brazil do not hold viable populations of jaguars to guarantee the species’ long-term survival. Corridors linking populations have been identified as a potential tool to avoid negative effects of isolation, increasing population viability. Here, we performed a Brazil-wide evalu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Landscape ecology 2014-08, Vol.29 (7), p.1213-1223
Main Authors: Silveira, Leandro, Sollmann, Rahel, Jácomo, Anah T. A., Diniz Filho, José A. F., Tôrres, Natália M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Ecology
Environmental Management
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Landscape Ecology
Landscape/Regional and Urban Planning
Life Sciences
Mammalia
Nature Conservation
Research Article
Sustainable Development
Vertebrates: general zoology, morphology, phylogeny, systematics, cytogenetics, geographical distribution
Wildcats
Wildlife conservation
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Summary:Most large reserves in Brazil do not hold viable populations of jaguars to guarantee the species’ long-term survival. Corridors linking populations have been identified as a potential tool to avoid negative effects of isolation, increasing population viability. Here, we performed a Brazil-wide evaluation of potential large scale corridors connecting protected jaguar populations. Six variables (human population size, dam reservoir size, number of dams, roads, railways and cities) expected to negatively impact jaguar movement were analyzed across 180 potential corridors connecting 298 protected jaguar areas. We established overall disturbance scores for the corridors using a principal components analysis and compared them among the Brazilian biomes. We further investigated which variables separated biomes using a canonical variates analysis. The Atlantic Forest and the semi-arid Caatinga have the most impacted potential corridors, whereas the Amazon and Pantanal still have the best potential corridors. Corridor quality in the Cerrado grasslands was intermediate. All variables but human population size and corridor length contributed significantly to differences in corridor variables among biomes. Our conclusions suggest that we need to plan the implementation of large scale corridors in the Amazon, Pantanal and particularly the Cerrado soon, while potential corridors might still be economically viable. In the much more impacted Atlantic Forest and Caatinga, the need for conservation actions is strongest, but logistical difficulties and costs may turn implementation of corridors unfeasible.
ISSN:0921-2973
1572-9761
DOI:10.1007/s10980-014-0057-4