Effectiveness of Protected Areas for biodiversity conservation: Mammal occupancy patterns in the Iguaçu National Park, Brazil

• Autores: Xavier da Silva, Marina; Paviolo, Agustin Javier; Tambosi, Leandro Reverberi; Pardini, Renata
• Año de publicación: 2018
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: CONSERVATION UNITS; CRYPTIC THREATS; EDGE EFFECTS; HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICTS; POACHING; TROPICAL FOREST
• Institución: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

Protected areas – widely recognized as the main strategy for biodiversity conservation – have greatly expanded, covering ∼15% of the Earth; however, we still lack detailed information on biodiversity to evaluate their effectiveness. This is particularly urgent for biodiversity hotspots where protected areas are islands within human modified landscapes. We focus on mammals of the Iguaçu National Park – one of the most important parks in the Atlantic Forest hotspot – to evaluate the effectiveness of protected areas in conserving biodiversity. We monitored 300 km2 with 37 cameras traps during five years to assess if (1) species occupancy declined over time, and (2) if species occupancy/detectability are spatially associated with illegal hunting, proximity to tourism infrastructure and distance from the edge, estimating the proportion of the park where these negative effects are detected. Many species that are rare in most Atlantic Forest remnants presented high occupancy within the park, and no decline in occupancy was observed over time. However, the distribution of 11 species was spatially associated primarily with the distance from the edge and proximity to tourism infrastructure, resulting in a decline, across half of the park area, from 13 to 23% in occupancy and from 19 to 35% in detectability (values averaged among species). These negative effects should be even stronger on smaller protected areas, which are the majority in highly altered hotspots. Re-establishing and properly managing buffer zones and restricting tourism to localized areas are essential to ensure the effectiveness of protected areas for biodiversity conservation.
Fil: Xavier da Silva, Marina. Parque Nacional do Iguaçu; Brasil. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil
Fil: Paviolo, Agustin Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Nordeste. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú | Universidad Nacional de Misiones. Instituto de Biología Subtropical. Instituto de Biología Subtropical - Nodo Puerto Iguazú; Argentina
Fil: Tambosi, Leandro Reverberi. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil. Universidade Federal do ABC; Brasil
Fil: Pardini, Renata. Universidade de Sao Paulo; Brasil