Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications

Autores
Baldi, Ricardo; Pirronitto, Analia; Burgi, Maria Virginia; Antun, Maria de Los Milagros
Año de publicación
2015
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The southern subspecies of the lesser rhea is distributed through the Argentine Patagonia and southern Chile. Habitat-loss and poaching were identified as the main threats to lesser rhea populations by the IUCN, which classified the species as "Least concern" in 2014. Although Rhea pennata pennata is among the most conspicuous wildlife across the large Patagonian rangelands, the available estimates of abundance are scarce, mostly restricted to reports between 12 and 30 years old, and resulted from different surveying methods. Our purpose in this work was to obtain estimates of R. p. pennata abundance across different sites in the Argentine Patagonia, and to explore the main factors affecting the spatial variation in abundance. We surveyed over 4000 km of line transects across six sites and obtained abundance estimates using the Distance sampling analysis. Also, we fitted restricted mixed models to evaluate the effects of different factors on the variation in R. p. pennata encounter rates among sites. We found that the abundance of R. p. pennata was very low either in the encounter rate (taking until 113 km of survey to detect a group of rheas depending on the site) or population density (between 0.0063 and 0.28 individuals.km−2). The occurrence of sheep ranching (SH) affected negatively the variation in the abundance of R. p. pennata among sites, whereas the availability of grassland (GR) habitat increased the chance of finding groups during the surveys. Line-transect surveys following the Distance sampling procedures are adequate to estimate encounter rates, although the low number of observations requiresrepeated surveys per site to obtain reliable estimates of animal density. Extended and sustained survey efforts and the implementation of a monitoring program are crucial to assess population trends of lesser rheas. Law enforcement to control poaching, increase in public awareness and an action plan to reduce threats are all necessary steps to conserve this emblematic species in Patagonia.
Fil: Baldi, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentina. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados Unidos
Fil: Pirronitto, Analia. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia; Argentina
Fil: Burgi, Maria Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentina
Fil: Antun, Maria de Los Milagros. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentina
Materia
RHEA PENNATA PENNATA
LESSER RHEA
ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION
SPATIAL VARIATION
PATAGONIA ARGENTINA
CONSERVATION
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/39181

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network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implicationsBaldi, RicardoPirronitto, AnaliaBurgi, Maria VirginiaAntun, Maria de Los MilagrosRHEA PENNATA PENNATALESSER RHEAABUNDANCE ESTIMATIONSPATIAL VARIATIONPATAGONIA ARGENTINACONSERVATIONhttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1The southern subspecies of the lesser rhea is distributed through the Argentine Patagonia and southern Chile. Habitat-loss and poaching were identified as the main threats to lesser rhea populations by the IUCN, which classified the species as "Least concern" in 2014. Although Rhea pennata pennata is among the most conspicuous wildlife across the large Patagonian rangelands, the available estimates of abundance are scarce, mostly restricted to reports between 12 and 30 years old, and resulted from different surveying methods. Our purpose in this work was to obtain estimates of R. p. pennata abundance across different sites in the Argentine Patagonia, and to explore the main factors affecting the spatial variation in abundance. We surveyed over 4000 km of line transects across six sites and obtained abundance estimates using the Distance sampling analysis. Also, we fitted restricted mixed models to evaluate the effects of different factors on the variation in R. p. pennata encounter rates among sites. We found that the abundance of R. p. pennata was very low either in the encounter rate (taking until 113 km of survey to detect a group of rheas depending on the site) or population density (between 0.0063 and 0.28 individuals.km−2). The occurrence of sheep ranching (SH) affected negatively the variation in the abundance of R. p. pennata among sites, whereas the availability of grassland (GR) habitat increased the chance of finding groups during the surveys. Line-transect surveys following the Distance sampling procedures are adequate to estimate encounter rates, although the low number of observations requiresrepeated surveys per site to obtain reliable estimates of animal density. Extended and sustained survey efforts and the implementation of a monitoring program are crucial to assess population trends of lesser rheas. Law enforcement to control poaching, increase in public awareness and an action plan to reduce threats are all necessary steps to conserve this emblematic species in Patagonia.Fil: Baldi, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentina. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados UnidosFil: Pirronitto, Analia. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia; ArgentinaFil: Burgi, Maria Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFil: Antun, Maria de Los Milagros. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; ArgentinaFRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION2015-12info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/39181Baldi, Ricardo; Pirronitto, Analia; Burgi, Maria Virginia; Antun, Maria de Los Milagros; Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications; FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION; FRONTIERS; 3; 135; 12-2015; 1-82296-701XCONICET DigitalCONICETenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3389/fevo.2015.00135info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2015.00135/fullinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T10:27:49Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/39181instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 10:27:49.953CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications
title Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications
spellingShingle Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications
Baldi, Ricardo
RHEA PENNATA PENNATA
LESSER RHEA
ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION
SPATIAL VARIATION
PATAGONIA ARGENTINA
CONSERVATION
title_short Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications
title_full Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications
title_fullStr Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications
title_full_unstemmed Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications
title_sort Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Baldi, Ricardo
Pirronitto, Analia
Burgi, Maria Virginia
Antun, Maria de Los Milagros
author Baldi, Ricardo
author_facet Baldi, Ricardo
Pirronitto, Analia
Burgi, Maria Virginia
Antun, Maria de Los Milagros
author_role author
author2 Pirronitto, Analia
Burgi, Maria Virginia
Antun, Maria de Los Milagros
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv RHEA PENNATA PENNATA
LESSER RHEA
ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION
SPATIAL VARIATION
PATAGONIA ARGENTINA
CONSERVATION
topic RHEA PENNATA PENNATA
LESSER RHEA
ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION
SPATIAL VARIATION
PATAGONIA ARGENTINA
CONSERVATION
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The southern subspecies of the lesser rhea is distributed through the Argentine Patagonia and southern Chile. Habitat-loss and poaching were identified as the main threats to lesser rhea populations by the IUCN, which classified the species as "Least concern" in 2014. Although Rhea pennata pennata is among the most conspicuous wildlife across the large Patagonian rangelands, the available estimates of abundance are scarce, mostly restricted to reports between 12 and 30 years old, and resulted from different surveying methods. Our purpose in this work was to obtain estimates of R. p. pennata abundance across different sites in the Argentine Patagonia, and to explore the main factors affecting the spatial variation in abundance. We surveyed over 4000 km of line transects across six sites and obtained abundance estimates using the Distance sampling analysis. Also, we fitted restricted mixed models to evaluate the effects of different factors on the variation in R. p. pennata encounter rates among sites. We found that the abundance of R. p. pennata was very low either in the encounter rate (taking until 113 km of survey to detect a group of rheas depending on the site) or population density (between 0.0063 and 0.28 individuals.km−2). The occurrence of sheep ranching (SH) affected negatively the variation in the abundance of R. p. pennata among sites, whereas the availability of grassland (GR) habitat increased the chance of finding groups during the surveys. Line-transect surveys following the Distance sampling procedures are adequate to estimate encounter rates, although the low number of observations requiresrepeated surveys per site to obtain reliable estimates of animal density. Extended and sustained survey efforts and the implementation of a monitoring program are crucial to assess population trends of lesser rheas. Law enforcement to control poaching, increase in public awareness and an action plan to reduce threats are all necessary steps to conserve this emblematic species in Patagonia.
Fil: Baldi, Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentina. Wildlife Conservation Society; Estados Unidos
Fil: Pirronitto, Analia. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia; Argentina
Fil: Burgi, Maria Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentina
Fil: Antun, Maria de Los Milagros. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto Patagónico para el Estudio de los Ecosistemas Continentales; Argentina
description The southern subspecies of the lesser rhea is distributed through the Argentine Patagonia and southern Chile. Habitat-loss and poaching were identified as the main threats to lesser rhea populations by the IUCN, which classified the species as "Least concern" in 2014. Although Rhea pennata pennata is among the most conspicuous wildlife across the large Patagonian rangelands, the available estimates of abundance are scarce, mostly restricted to reports between 12 and 30 years old, and resulted from different surveying methods. Our purpose in this work was to obtain estimates of R. p. pennata abundance across different sites in the Argentine Patagonia, and to explore the main factors affecting the spatial variation in abundance. We surveyed over 4000 km of line transects across six sites and obtained abundance estimates using the Distance sampling analysis. Also, we fitted restricted mixed models to evaluate the effects of different factors on the variation in R. p. pennata encounter rates among sites. We found that the abundance of R. p. pennata was very low either in the encounter rate (taking until 113 km of survey to detect a group of rheas depending on the site) or population density (between 0.0063 and 0.28 individuals.km−2). The occurrence of sheep ranching (SH) affected negatively the variation in the abundance of R. p. pennata among sites, whereas the availability of grassland (GR) habitat increased the chance of finding groups during the surveys. Line-transect surveys following the Distance sampling procedures are adequate to estimate encounter rates, although the low number of observations requiresrepeated surveys per site to obtain reliable estimates of animal density. Extended and sustained survey efforts and the implementation of a monitoring program are crucial to assess population trends of lesser rheas. Law enforcement to control poaching, increase in public awareness and an action plan to reduce threats are all necessary steps to conserve this emblematic species in Patagonia.
publishDate 2015
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2015-12
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/39181
Baldi, Ricardo; Pirronitto, Analia; Burgi, Maria Virginia; Antun, Maria de Los Milagros; Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications; FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION; FRONTIERS; 3; 135; 12-2015; 1-8
2296-701X
CONICET Digital
CONICET
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/39181
identifier_str_mv Baldi, Ricardo; Pirronitto, Analia; Burgi, Maria Virginia; Antun, Maria de Los Milagros; Abundance estimates of the lesser rhea Rhea pennata pennata in the Argentine Patagonia: conservation implications; FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION; FRONTIERS; 3; 135; 12-2015; 1-8
2296-701X
CONICET Digital
CONICET
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.3389/fevo.2015.00135
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2015.00135/full
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
publisher.none.fl_str_mv FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
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instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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