Abstract
Patterns of detectability and occupation of the jaguar (Panthera onca) vary throughout its distribution, being determined primarily by vegetation cover, prey availability, and anthropogenic factors. However, there is still a large knowledge gap regarding what determines jaguar occupancy, especially in the Amazon. This knowledge gap is even more pronounced for oceanic islands, which represent unique and very sensitive ecosystems, such as the Maracá-Jipioca Islands of the Northeastern Brazilian Amazon. Our study aimed to establish the spatial ecology of jaguars in this insular ecosystem and to provide information to facilitate sustainable management of the population there. We assessed how different factors (vegetation type and prey availability) potentially influence detectability and occupancy patterns of the jaguars of the Maracá-Jipioca Islands. We found that greater wetland (beach-sea and lagoon-channel) cover was the main driver of jaguar detectability and occupancy. We revealed factors driving the population and spatial ecology of jaguars in an insular system. Despite imminent threats to the region, the knowledge we present can inform the sustainable management of jaguars to ensure that the fundamental and unique ecosystem services provided by this top predator are maintained.
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We declare that our data is available.
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Acknowledgements
We are extremely grateful to the World Wide Fund for Nature WWF-Brazil and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) for their funding and operational logistics support for field research and especially to all the firefighters and field assistants for all their hard work in the field.
Funding
We thank Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) for funding of the doctoral scholarship to the author HOBD. WDC was supported by “Ayudas Maria Zambrano” (CA3/RSUE/2021–00197), funded by the Spanish Ministry of Universities. Additional training support was provided by Pós-graduação em Biodiversidade Tropical (PPGBio) and Universidade Federal do Amapá (UNIFAP), funded by the Programa Nacional de Cooperação Acadêmica da Amazônia (PROCAD-AM/CAPES, no. 88887.200472/ 2018–00). We thank Programa Nacional de Cooperação Acadêmica na Amazônica (PROCADAmazônia/CAPES) for funding of an international exchange during the PhD of HOBD, which was realized in collaboration with cE3c—Center for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Change & Change—Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal, which was funded by the FCT/MCTES through national funds and co-funded by FEDER within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement and Compete 2020 (UIDB/00329/2020).
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No direct funding was obtained for the present work, but the data presented herein were collected with funding and operational logistics support for field research from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWFBrazil) and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio). Therefore, there is no conflict of financial interests. The study was authorized by ICMBio. The methods applied were not invasive, and we did not use animal experimentation, so there was no need for specific approval from an appropriate ethics committee for research involving animals.
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Duarte, H.O.B., Carvalho, W.D., de Toledo, J.J. et al. Big cats like water: occupancy patterns of jaguar in a unique and insular Brazilian Amazon ecosystem. Mamm Res 68, 263–271 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-023-00681-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13364-023-00681-7