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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
agricultural and biological sciences
Resource selection in an apex predator and variation in response to local landscape characteristics
Biological Conservation, Volume 228, Year 2018
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Description
Habitat loss and fragmentation represent major threats for the conservation of apex predators, such as the jaguar (Panthera onca). Investigating species’ resource selection behavior in response to landscape alteration is critical for developing relevant conservation management plans. The jaguar is found across a variety of habitats with different gradients of human disturbance, making them a good candidate to study how apex predators respond to increasing intensity of human land use. We developed resource selection models to characterize patterns of jaguar resource selection at two different spatial scales, home range (coarse) and foraging scale (fine). This analysis was based on the largest existing GPS-location dataset for jaguars (n = 40 individuals, n = 87,376 locations), spanning the species’ geographic range in Brazil and Argentina. We found that both males and females jaguars exhibited an overall preference for forests and areas close to watercourses at both the home range and foraging scale. At the foraging scale, areas of high livestock density “attracted” male jaguars. We also performed a follow-up analysis to test for context-dependent resource selection (i.e., functional responses) by relating individual behavior to local habitat characteristics. We found that jaguars in heavily-forested landscapes showed strong avoidance of non-forest. Furthermore, we found that only the individuals in closest proximity to watercourses showed positive selection for water. Our results highlight that jaguars display different patterns of resource selection in different areas, demonstrating a considerable ability to use or tolerate a wide variety of different conditions across the species geographic range. This plasticity may allow jaguars to adjust their behavior according to land use changes but also increases human-jaguar conflict and jaguar mortality, especially in areas with high livestock density. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
Authors & Co-Authors
Morato, Ronaldo Gonçalves
Brazil, Brasilia
Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade
United States, Washington, D.c.
National Zoological Park
Brazil, Atibaia
Instituto Pró-carnívoros
Connette, Grant M.
United States, Washington, D.c.
National Zoological Park
Stabach, Jared A.
United States, Washington, D.c.
National Zoological Park
De Paula, Rogério Cunha
Brazil, Brasilia
Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade
Brazil, Atibaia
Instituto Pró-carnívoros
Ferraz, Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros
Brazil, Atibaia
Instituto Pró-carnívoros
Brazil, Sao Paulo
Universidade de São Paulo
Paviolo, Agustín Javier
Argentina, Posadas
Universidad Nacional de Misiones
Di Bitetti, Mario Santiago
Argentina, Posadas
Universidad Nacional de Misiones
Cruz, Paula
Argentina, Posadas
Universidad Nacional de Misiones
Cullen, Laury
Brazil, Sao Paulo
Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho
Ramalho, Emiliano Esterci
Brazil, Atibaia
Instituto Pró-carnívoros
Brazil, Tefe
Instituto de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Mamirauá
da Silva, Marina Xavier
Brazil, Brasilia
Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade
Moraes, Marcela Figuerêdo Duarte
Brazil, Brasilia
Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade
May-Junior, Joares Adenilson
Brazil, Tubarao
Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina
Wittemyer, George
United States, Fort Collins
Colorado State University
Leimgruber, Peter
United States, Washington, D.c.
National Zoological Park
Statistics
Citations: 37
Authors: 15
Affiliations: 14
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.biocon.2018.10.022
ISSN:
00063207
Research Areas
Environmental
Study Design
Cohort Study
Participants Gender
Male
Female