The local extinction of one of the greatest terrestrial ecosystem engineers, the giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), in one of its last refuges in the Atlantic Forest, will be felt by a large vertebrate community

Global Ecology and Conservation

Átilla Colombo Ferreguetti¹  Vitor Roberto Schettino²  Gabriel Fávero Massocato³  Ana Carolina Srbek-Araujo⁴  Helena Godoy Bergallo⁴  Andressa Gatti⁵  Renata Valls⁶  Aureo Banhos⁷  Danielle de Oliveira Moreira⁸  Tânia Margarete Sanaiotti⁹  Bruno Lucas Fontes^1,10  Carlos Hartur Ribeiro Noia^1,11  Eduardo de Sá Mendonça^1,12  Arnaud Leonard Jean Desbiez^1,13 

[1] Houston Zoo, 6200 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX, 77030, USA;Instituto SerraDiCal de Pesquisa e Conservação, Rua José Hemetério Andrade, 570, Bloco 06, Apartamento 201, Buritis, 30493-180, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil;Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres, Rua Licuala, 622, 79046-150, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil;Instituto de Pesquisas Ecológicas, Rodovia Dom Pedro I, Km 47, 12960-000, Nazaré Paulista, São Paulo, Brazil;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência Animal, Laboratório de Ecologia de Mamíferos, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Avenida André Araújo, 2936, Petrópolis, 69067-375, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil;Departamento de Biologia, Centro de Ciências Exatas, Naturais e da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Alto Universitário, Guararema, 29500-000, Alegre, Espírito Santo, Brazil;Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biologia Roberto Alcântara Gomes, Universidade Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Instituto de Conservação de Animais Silvestres, Rua Licuala, 622, 79046-150, Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Biologia Animal) - PPGBAN, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Avenida Fernando Ferrari, 514, Prédio Bárbara Weinberg, 29075-910, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia de Ecossistemas e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência Animal, Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação de Biodiversidade, Universidade Vila Velha, Rua Comissário José Dantas de Melo, 21, Boa Vista, 29102-920, Vila Velha, Espírito Santo, Brazil;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Evolução e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciência Animal, Laboratório de Ecologia de Mamíferos, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Murrayfield, Edinburgh, EH12 6TS, United Kingdom;

关键词: Camera-trap;    Cingulata;    Excavation;    Foraging attributes;    Sooretama;    Threatened species;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Priodontes maximus is the largest living armadillo and is at risk of extinction. The species ranges throughout South America and one of its last refuges in the entire Atlantic Forest is a reserve complex called Sooretama. We investigated the conservation status of the species and its role as an ecosystem engineer in Sooretama. We employed camera-traps, active searches and checked the data from previous studies in the area. In the past 14 years, there were 70 records of the species in 31 sites, including 43 camera-trap images, 25 excavations and two carcasses. However, our recent field work (2018–2019) recorded images of only three adult individuals (a female, a male and one of unidentified sex) and one excavation with evidence that poachers had killed its occupant. We observed through camera-traps that at least 37 vertebrate species used monitored excavations. The species-richness detected in sites with excavations was greater than in sites without excavations. The number of species using excavations of P. maximus in Sooretama was one of the greatest recorded among studies carried out in different biomes. The interior of excavations tended to be used mainly by ground foraging stratum species and by invertebrate and omnivore diets species. This study demonstrated the important role of P. maximus as an ecosystem engineer in the Atlantic Forest. However, unless the course of its imminent extinction can be reversed, P. maximus soon will not be able to play its important ecological role in the Sooretama region.

【 授权许可】

Unknown