Tapir Conservation - Tapir Specialist Group
Tapir Conservation - Tapir Specialist Group
Tapir Conservation - Tapir Specialist Group
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CONTRIBUTIONS<br />
Abstract<br />
In the northeastern Brazilian Pantanal, lowland<br />
tapirs (<strong>Tapir</strong>us terrestris) regularly visit natural<br />
licks to eat soil and drink water. Here, we evaluate<br />
the importance of natural licks in predicting<br />
tapir presence in the region. We examined the<br />
relationship between the frequency of use of eight<br />
natural licks by tapirs and land cover composition<br />
at three spatial scales. We also test the relationship<br />
between frequency of use of licks and tapir<br />
probabilities of occurrence in areas surrounding<br />
natural licks (based on a landscape habitat model).<br />
Areas with similar landscape composition presented<br />
different intensity of use of the natural licks and<br />
areas with low occurrence probability exhibited<br />
high intensity of use. The results indicate that<br />
natural licks are discrete landscape units important<br />
to the occurrence of T. terrestris in the region and<br />
should be incorporated into models of local species’<br />
distribution.<br />
Keywords: <strong>Tapir</strong>us terrestris, habitat scale, natural<br />
licks, Pantanal, species occurrence<br />
CONTRIBUTIONS<br />
The Importance of Natural Licks in Predicting<br />
Lowland <strong>Tapir</strong> (<strong>Tapir</strong>us terrestris, Linnaeus 1758) Occurrence<br />
in the Brazilian Pantanal<br />
Igor Pfeifer Coelho 1 , Luiz Flamarion B. Oliveira 2 , Maria Elaine Oliveira 3 , José Luís P. Cordeiro 4<br />
1 PPG-Ecologia, Departamento de Ecologia, UFRGS,<br />
Porto Alegre, Brazil. E-mail: djakare@gmail.com<br />
2 Depto. de Vertebrados, Seção de Mastozoologia, Museu Nacional,<br />
UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. E-mail: melfo@terra.com.br<br />
3 PG Ciência Ambiental, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil.<br />
E-mail: melfolive@terra.com.br<br />
4 Programa Institucional Biodiversidade e Saúde, FIOCRUZ,<br />
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. E-mail: zeluis@fiocruz.br<br />
Introduction<br />
Figure 1. Lowland<br />
tapir at Clementino<br />
natural lick in SESC-<br />
Pantanal Reserve.<br />
April 2005.<br />
Predicting the occurrence and distribution of<br />
organisms is a very important step towards effective<br />
conservation strategies. Such information is essential<br />
in, for instance, identifying priority conservation areas.<br />
In-depth assessments of species’ habitat requirements<br />
need to evaluate habitat preferences and species<br />
responses across multiple spatial scales (Wiens 2002).<br />
This is because organisms respond to environmental<br />
changes at different scales and hierarchical levels. The<br />
response at each scale is dependent on life history<br />
traits (Bissonette et al. 1997; Hobbs 2003). The<br />
finest spatial unit that an organism perceives habitat<br />
heterogeneity (grain) is defined by physiological and<br />
perceptual abilities. The coarser scale of heterogeneity<br />
to which an organism responds (extent) is determined<br />
by the lifetime home range of the individual (Kotliar &<br />
Wiens 1990). However, evaluating coarser scales than<br />
an organism’s home range is relevant, because patterns<br />
and process emerging in such spatial resolutions can<br />
affect habitat selection by individuals (Bissonete et al.<br />
1997).<br />
Ungulates are able to respond to landscape<br />
heterogeneity across a broad range of scales because<br />
<strong>Tapir</strong> <strong>Conservation</strong> n The Newsletter of the IUCN/SSC <strong>Tapir</strong> <strong>Specialist</strong> <strong>Group</strong> n Vol. 17/2 n No. 24 n December 2008<br />
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