1 Finding and Conserving the Little Spotted Cat of Yungas, Argentina

Finding and conserving the little spotted cat of Yungas, Argentina

Project ID: 0615010

Host country: Argentina. Study site: Acambuco Provincial Reserve (Salta Province), Lotes 50-51 Provincial Reserve and PanAmerican Energy Properties. Field surveys: 18-jun-11 to 21-sep-11; 15- nov-11 to 03-mar-12

Organizations: CETAS, CONICET.

The overall aim: Generate distribution and ecological information and to raise awareness for the conservation of Oncilla ( Leopardus tigrinus ).

Griet An Erica Cuyckens

Correspondence:

CETAS - Ecología de Comunidades, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Alberdi 47, 4600 San Salvador de Jujuy, Argentina

e-mail: [email protected]

http://centroestudiosterrit.wix.com/cetas

Table of Contents

Table of Contents ...... 2

Acknowledgements ...... 4

Section 1: ...... 5

Summary ...... 5 Introduction ...... 5 Project members ...... 7 Methodology ...... 8 Section 3: ...... 25

Conclusion...... 25 Problems encountered and lessons learnt ...... 25 In the future ...... 26 Section 4: Appendices ...... 27

Appendix 1. Names of cameras and geographic position ...... 27 Appendix 2. Question survey to school children...... 28 Appendix 3. Educational material developed for the Project ...... 29 Appendix 4. Brochure about cat species in Yungas ...... 38 Appendix 5. Complete list of species registered by camera traps during the project...... 40 Appendix 6. Abstract of the presentation during IV Congreso binacional de Ecologia (Buenos Aires, August 2010) ...... 43 Appendix 7. Poster presented during X Congreso Internacional de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y Latinoamérica, 4 al 18 de Mayo, 2012, Salta – Argentina...... 44 3

...... 44 Appendix 8. Abstract “Primer congreso y VIII jornadas cientifico-tecnicas de la facultad de ciencias agrarias, UNJu” 15-19 Octubre 2012 ...... 45 Bibliography ...... 46 Address list and web links ...... 47

Acknowledgements

Thanks for information on the study area to Luciana Cristobal and for GIS and shapefiles to Silvia Pacheco (ProYungas).

For presence points of the species we are grateful to Pablo Perovic and Agustin Paviolo. We received help with field work from Pablo Perovic and Parques Nacionales (National Parks of Argentina), Ariel Cazón, Federico Luna, Gloria Ramos, César Bracamonte, Diego Delgado and Sebastian Albanesi.

We were able to extent the project and realize a second field survey thanks to Fundación ProYungas,

For permission to work in Acambuco: Ministerio de Recursos Naturales (Salta) and in property of PanAmerican Energy: staff of PanAmerican Energy, Tartagal, Salta, especially Eugenia Barros.

We thank Parkrangers: Ariel Cazón, Gloria Ramos and Mariano Libua and teacher Alejandro Montes and especially all school children and their teachers from Acambuco, El Chorrito, Macueta and Campo Largo schools.

Section 1:

Summary

Oncilla or little spotted cat ( Leopardus tigrinus ) is a Vulnerable small felid which has a wide distribution range (from Costa Rica to northern Argentina) dough, it is locally very rare. To delineate conservation priorities, we need to accurately know the geographic distribution of the species and indicate the threats of changes in human land use. For successful in situ conservation local human communities are very important and children are key in this process. In this project we developed a potential distribution map for Oncilla and applied a Jack-knife analysis to indicate the most important variables. We developed a map indicating areas where the species is already lost and indicate priority sites for its conservation. To analyze the community of big and medium sized mammals that lives with Oncilla we did 5 camera trap surveys (5 cameras each during 90 days each). We realized a conservation campaign in 4 local schools, analyzing their knowledge of native mammals and felids. The school they study explained their knowledge of native mammals, probably due to distance from nearest town and proximity to Bolivian rural areas. We successfully created a risk map, indicating potential distribution, losses due to human land use and areas of high conservation priority. We did not photograph Oncilla and could evidence presence of Oncilla only through oral interviews with local inhabitants; indicating the extreme rareness of Oncilla in Yungas and its probably low densities. This species is probably the rarest cat species in Yungas and so needs urgent conservation actions.

Introduction

Oncilla or little spotted cat ( Leopardus tigrinus ) ranges from Costa Rica to northern Argentina. The species is considered as Vulnerable on international (de Oliveira et al., 2008) and national level (Aprile et al., 2012). It is rare in the majority of its geographical extension and patchily distributed. Information in order to conserve this species is needed and totally lacks in Argentean Yungas. 6

To delineate conservation priorities, we need to accurately know the geographic distribution of the species. As with many rare species (Hernández et al., 2006; Thorn et al., 2009), there are very limited data on the distribution of Oncilla; in the Yungas region there were only 9 presence records (Perovic, 2002).

Changes in human land use can threaten this typically forest felid, so it should be indicated where those losses occurred and also indicate areas of high conservation priority, considering areas of high presence probability and relative big extension that could serve to protect the species in the future.

Little is known about its ecology in Argentina; for example the environmental variables that define its distribution are unknown, although this is crucial for management and prediction of the effect of climate change for example. The biological community that share habitat with Oncilla in Yungas is not very well known.

Finally, local human communities are important in conservation efforts (Danielsen et al., 2007), so there is need to know how much local villagers know about the species and to reinforce the potential knowledge they have. Children are an important group in this process as they constitute the future of a place and it is more easily to create awareness in them.

Study Area:

This study took place in the northwest of Argentina, in the ecoregion of Yungas (Fig. 1), Yungas are vital to provide water in the region, offer a landscape resource and has a great cultural diversity. They harbour together with the upper Paraná forests of Misiones more than halve of the biodiversity of Argentina and cover less than 2% of its surface (Brown et al., 2006). The Southern Andean Yungas begins in southern Bolivia and continues south into Argentina. It is a humid forest region between the drier Gran Chaco region to the east and the dry, high altitude Puna region to the west. The Yungas forests are extremely diverse, ranging from moist lowland forest to evergreen montane forest and cloud forests. The terrain is extremely rugged and varied, contributing to the ecological diversity and richness. A complex mosaic of habitats occurs with changing latitude (-22º to -24º) as well as elevation (400 to 2500 msl). There are high levels of biodiversity and species endemism. Our study area is the Bermejo Basin Biogeographic Sector 7

(Navarro & Maldonado, 2002). Our study site was the provincial Reserve Acambuco. In this reserve are several human populations (Chorrito, Acambuco, Macueta and Campo Largo among the most important. The surrounding areas of the reserve are property of PanAmerican Energy and they realize petrol extraction.

Fig 1. Location of study site.

Project members Erica Cuyckens, Ariel Cazón, Bernardo Holman, Estefania Sanchez-Cuartielles.

Section 2:

Aim and objectives

Objective 1: Indicate the potential distribution of L. tigrinus in the Yungas of Salta and Jujuy. Objective 2: Create a risk map: indicating areas of potential distribution affected by human land use and areas potentially important for the conservation of Oncilla in Salta and Jujuy Yungas. Objective 3: Indicate some ecological features; environmental variables and biological community of big and medium sized mammals that can be associated with the presence of Leopardus tigrinus Objective 4: Assess the level of awareness and raise awareness of the status and importance of the species and its conservation needs.

Methodology

We gathered 64 presence points of Oncilla in Argentina, from local investigators (P. Paviolo and P. Perovic) to run a potential distribution map for Oncilla using the software MaxEnt (Phillips et al., 2006) and 21 environmental variables. We used bioclimatic variables available on line (http://www.worldclim.org/ ). Worldclim is a set of global climate layers (climate grids) with a spatial resolution of about 1 square kilometre. We used three topographic variables; altitude and derived slope and aspect. We measured the general performance of the map using the AUC or area under the Roc curve.

To indicate areas potentially suitable for Oncilla affected by changes in human land use, we used the potential distribution map created and superposed it with a land cover map (Bicheron, 2008) to extract areas with a human land use not compatible with presence of Oncilla. We considered the following uses: Intensive agriculture, mosaic agriculture/degraded vegetation, mosaic agriculture /degraded forests, barren / bare soil and urban as not suitable for the species. We considered areas of high conservation priority those that had high habitat suitability for the species and an important surface

To indicate ecological features we did two things; to indicate environmental variables important for the distribution of Oncilla we realized a Jack-knife analysis which is included in the software MaxEnt. On the other hand to characterize the biological community we realized five camera trap surveys (Table 1; Fig. 2). In each surveys we placed 5 cameras with a distance between them of at least one km, active for 90 days approximately and baited with a can of tuna fish, placed 2-3 meters in front of the camera. We checked cameras every 15 days. For exact place of each camera see Appendix 1. We computed the number of events of all native and exotic big and medium sized mammal and also rodents (as one group). We used the program Camera Base 1.5 to manage information (http://www.atrium-biodiversity.org/tools/camerabase/). We realized a Principle Component Analysis (PCA) to indicate similarities between different sites of surveys with R (R Development Core Team, 2012, http://www.r-project.org/). First we realized a broken stick screen plot to see which component is significant and then graphed the five sites in function of these components.

Table 1. Survey names and periods.

Survey Name Start Date End Date Barrio Ediondo 18jun11 21sep11 Camino Campo Largo 17nov11 03mar12 Cantera 15nov11 29feb12 Lotes 5051 18jun11 27sep11 San Pedrito 16nov11 08mar12

Fig 2. Location Camera Traps

To analyse attitude of local community children we realized interviews in four local schools:

1) Campo Largo; 19 students. 2) Vicente López y Planes "El Chorrito"; 19 students. 3) Acambuco N° 4541; 29 students. 4) Macueta 4185; 25 students. We asked questions about general relation with native species, fear towards animals, knowledge about native species and about felid species and finally about Oncilla in particular (see Appendix 2). Based on these questions we developed two indices: index of index of knowledge of native mammal species and index of knowledge about felids. We used linear models to relate those indexes to the age, gender (male/female), fear to animals, and the place of the school they study (Chorrito, Acambuco, Macueta and Campo Largo). 1

To raise awareness we developed an educational brochure (see Appendix 3 Educational material developed for the Project) to use in the four schools visited. Also to show which species occur in the area and in Yungas in general, we developed a brochure with information on the cat species (Appendix 4) to distribute between local villagers, school children, park rangers, provincial authorities (Salta and Jujuy), other NGO’s and general public.

Outputs and Results

Maps

We gathered 64 presence points of which only 9 were from Yungas (Fig. 3). We obtained a model with a good general performance (AUC = 0.996), indicating that it separates well between presence and absence (Fig 4). We created a risk map (Fig. 5).

Fig 3. Present points of L. tigrinus in Argentina.

Fig 4. Potential distribution map of L. tigrinus in the Yungas of Argentina, based on MaxEnt, 19 biolclimatic and 3 topographic variables and 64 presence records of Argentina.

Fig 5. Risk map: areas highly threatened or already lost (red parts and circles) and proposed areas for protection for Oncilla in north-western Argentina (green circles).

Oncilla is suffering from loss of its potential habitat throughout its entire range: red pixels throughout its range in Fig. 5. In this map we marked threatened areas with red (ellipses or pixels) and important areas for conservation with green (ellipses). The threatened areas are the following: Area 1: this area in the surroundings of Tartagal is threatened by a change into cultivated areas, mostly soy bean. The scenario we are presenting dates from the year 2000, and since that year soy bean expanded (L. Cristobal, comm. Pers.), so the present scenario is worse. Area 2: the area of Bermejo city: low probability to conserve the species in this urban /cultivated area. Centre of Salta: this potential area is probably lost for Oncilla as it is highly affected and 1 isolated from the rest of its range. Tucuman: the presence of the species in Tucuman province is never been confirmed. Our results indicate that if the species would have been present it was probably extinct before the year 2000 as most of its potential area vanished and above, this potential population would have been isolated from the rest. We considered areas important to conservation: A: this area indicates high probability of presence, but there are no protected areas. Also these areas were indicated as they will maintain piedmont forest in the future (Pacheco et al., 2010), which could be important habitat for Oncilla. B: this area seems to be important for Oncilla conservation mostly because of its high probability of presence and the possibility of connecting two protected areas: Baritú (in the north) and Calilegua (in the southern end). These two protected areas area National Parks which is the highest category of protection in Argentina.

Ecology

The Jack-knife analysis indicated that the most important variables to the species were: Precipitation of Warmest Quarter (30.7 percent contribution, Fig. 6), Temperature Annual Range (20.5 percent contribution; Fig. 7) and Precipitation of Driest Quarter (20.2 percent contribution; Fig. 8).

Fig. 6. Graphic of the relation between the Precipitation of warmest quarter and the probability of presence of Tirica.

Fig. 7. Graphic of the relation between the Temperature Annual Range and the probability of presence of Tirica.

Fig. 8. Graphic of the relation between the Precipitation of Driest Quarter and the probability of presence of Tirica.

During camera traps surveys we registered 18 native and 4 exotic mammal species. For a complete list see Appendix 5. The PCA plot (Fig. 9) separated Cantera and Barro Ediondo sites from the other three (San Pedrito, Lotes 50-51 and Campo Largo).

Fig. 9. Screen plot of PCA analyzing mammal diversity (native and exotic) based on 5 camera trap surveys.

In the field surveys we did not register L. tigrinus , although we did register other 5 cat species: ocelot Leopardus pardalis, Margay Leopardus wiedii , puma Puma concolor , jaguarondi Puma yagouaroundi through pictures (Fig. 10) and we recorded jaguar Panthera onca through footprints (Fig. 1, Fig. 11). The presence of Oncilla was recorded through an interview to local habitant and was recorded during other studies (M. Di Bitetti, com. Pers.).

Puma concolor Puma yagouaroundi 1

Leopardus pardalis Leopardus wiedii

Fig 10. Pictures of felid species obtained during 90 days camera survey in Acambuco and Lotes 50-51 Reserves.

Fig 11. Photo of jaguar footprints on road.

Conservation campaign

We realized a conservation campaign in the schools nearby Acambuco: Acambuco, Chorrito, Macueta and Campo Largo. We did surveys about their knowledge of Oncilla (Appendix 1, Fig. 12), realized drawings (Fig. 13), and we played the camera trap game (Fig. 14). We obtained help from 1 park rangers (Fig 15). We developed a brochure that can be used by other teachers, educators (Appendix 4). We developed a brochure (2000 issues) with general cat information about felids species in Yungas (Appendix 5). This was distributed to local school children and villagers, but also to park rangers, other NGO’s and authorities. At the end of the project we went back to schools to show results (Figs. 16, 17, 18). The statistics didn’t indicate a relationship between the indices of knowledge of native species and felids and the age of the children. The gender of the children (male/female) didn’t show a clear tendency. Fear did not influence the indexes measured, but we registered felids (jaguars, pumas) in several answers, apart from snakes. The model indicated that only the school the children studied could explain the index of knowledge of native mammals (P = 1.281e-07).

Fig 12. Children responding the questionnaire. 1

Fig 13. Oncilla cat by local children

Fig 14. Child from Campo Largo School “captured” by camera trap.

Fig 15. Park rangers Ariel Cazón, revealing information from footprint and Gloria Ramos helping placing the cameras.

Fig. 1 6. Project members, park rangers, school director and students of Campo Largo School, Campo Largo, Salta, Argentina.

Fig. 1 7. Showing results of camera trap survey.

Fig. 1 8. Student holding information brochure.

Achievements and Impacts

The risk map indicating important areas for Oncilla conservation is an important conservation tool, easily understandable by decision makers and incorporating biological (presence points), environmental (Bioclim variables) and human impact information. We passed the map as part of a general inform to the environmental authorities of Salta and Jujuy (Ministerio de Ambiente y Secretaría de Gestion Ambiental, Jujuy). This map was non-existing before.

There are differences between the study sites (PCA, Fig. 9) is probably due to different uses which affect biodiversity; in Barro Ediondo and Campo Largo there is presence of cattle (probably more in Barro Ediondo). San Pedrito and Lotes 50-51 don’t have presence of cows and the access to those sites is more difficult and controlled by PanAmerican Energy which probably inhibits hunters from entering. Finally, the entrance to the site Cantera is also controlled, but there is use of extraction of minerals.

The fact that we did not register Tirica, but we did register all other felid species present in the area, indicates its extreme relative rareness in comparison with those other species. The species nevertheless, does exist in Acambuco area as we could report it through one interview with a local habitant and it was recorded in a camera trap study (M. Di Bitetti, com. Pers.). The record of those species is important as some of them are threatened on national level (i.e. jaguar is near extinct in Argentina) and information of them is scarce. So we encourage more studies in the area.

Conservation campaign

The educational material and the brochure about cat species is a big achievement as they were nonexistent before. We realized informal chats with local habitants about the importance of the presence of carnivores in general and cats in particular. We could not measure the impact of this as we did them in general on casual basis and based on a relation of confidence. We consider it is important to build a good relation with local habitants as they are conservation actions can only 2 be successful if local populace is involved (Danielsen et al., 2007) and in the present persons hunt cats (Fig 19).

Fig 19. P. yagouaroundi as trophy or ornament in house of Acambuco.

We presented results on the “IV reunion binacional de ecología” in Argentina. (June 2010). (Abstract of presentation in Spanish, see Appendix 6) and a poster during “X Congreso Internacional de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y Latinoamérica”, (4-18 May 2012, Salta – Argentina) and during the “Primer congreso y VIII Jornadas científico-técnicas de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, UNJu” (Fig 19) Appendix 7.

Fig 20. Presentation of results during “Primer congreso y VIII Jornadas científico-técnicas de la Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, UNJu”

Section 3:

Conclusion We indicated successfully geographic distribution of the species, on a scale of one square kilometre. Although in the study site we did not register the species, this work enabled us to do more camera trapping and we did record the species in other areas (Cuyckens, 2013). This distribution map and the risk map are new tools that can be used in decision making. The knowledge of the children is related with the school and probably the distance from urban areas and proximity to Bolivian rural areas.

Problems encountered and lessons learnt

-) The first big problem we achieved was to revive the money, because of several reasons, not related to us. For example, bank policies changed when money was on its way and bank employees were not clear about them. This caused a big delay in the whole project, and effected several commitments. We finally solved this by receiving the money through NGO ProYungas.

-) We had some delay importing the cameras to Argentina. Therefore we started with a delay the field survey.

-) the long duration of the project (due to delays, receiving the approbation of the project later, difficulties to import camaras, extension of fieldwork) made that all participants had other compromises and time problemas to dedicate to the project.

-) none of the members of the projects did the traingina, therefor we had some difficulties in the form to present reports

In the future

In the future we will continue to study felids in Yungas. As camera traps give us information about all species, we would like to include other felids. Also, we noticed the need to study the impact of cattle (the site without cattle was better conserved). Cattle is present in the whole extent of Yungas, but not studied yet.

In relation to our study site most important lesson learnt is to include PanAmerican Energy in conservation actions. Although their activity (petrol extraction) could be disastrous for water resources and other natural elements, nowadays their territories have conservation possibilities due to control. Also, they have the economic resources to investigate and mitigate.

Section 4: Appendices

Appendix 1. Names of cameras and geographic position

Camera Name X Y Elevation

Barrio Ediondo Tunel -63.9871 -22.1476 587 Med ia Luna -63.9795 -22.1442 577 Pichi -63.9661 -22.1423 546 Pisonia -63.9555 -22.1429 698 Salida -63.9463 -22.1376 861

Camino Campo Largo Flaging -63.9465 -22.1271 967 Senda vaca -63.9421 -22.1091 935 Arbol negro -63.9362 -22.0916 977 Euge nia -63.9282 -22.0723 995 Mochada -63.9172 -22.0447 978

Cantera Urundel -63.9558 -22.2166 768 Cocoloba -63.946 -22.2187 904 Parcela -63.9415 -22.2094 953 Cruce -63.9409 -22.2272 973 Pacara -63.943 -22.2405 998

Lotes 5051 Huella -64.0178 -22.3814 666 PAE -64.0229 -22.3727 898 Rodilla -64.0212 -22.39 741 Bote -63.9973 -22.3546 1053 Planta -63.9913 -22.3422 997

San Pedrito Km 40 -64.0093 -22.4101 1035 Maroma -64.0114 -22.4215 918 Tigrera -64.0205 -22.3853 755 Anta -63.98 37 -22.3347 908 Filo chancho -63.9822 -22.3211 944

Appendix 2. Question survey to school children.

Nombre y Apellido: Escuela:

Edad:

1. Nombra 5 animales. - …………………………………………… - …………………………………………… - …………………………………………… - …………………………………………… - ……………………………………………

2. ¿Cuál es el animal que más te gusta? …………………………………………………………

3. Nombra algún animal que sea peligroso. ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… …………..

4. ¿Sabes qué son animales silvestres? ¿Cuáles son? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………

5. ¿Alguna vez viste animales del monte? ¿Cuáles? ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………

6. a. ¿Conocés diferentes tipos de gatos que viven en el monte? (Marque una opción)

SI:…… NO:…… No entiendo la pregunta:….. 2

Appendix 3. Educational material developed for the Project

ACTIVIDADES ¿Qué sabés acerca de los felinos? Completar las preguntas en la ficha de manera individual. 1. ¿Qué es un felino? ¿Y qué especies de felinos existen? Poné ejemplos.

………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ……… 2. ¿Donde vive el gato tirica ? Especifica el tipo de hábitat y el área geográfica en el mapa de Argentina.

1. RECONOCIMIENTO de gatos

◘ ◘ Yaguareté

◘ ◘ Gato andino

◘ ◘ Gato domestico

◘ ◘ Tigre de Bengala

2. TAMAÑOS. Ordena de mayor a menor tamaño estas especies de felinos.

3. ¿Qué sentidos tienen más desarrollado los felinos? La vista y el olfato La vista y el oído El olfato y el oído

4. ¿Qué comen los gatos? Esencialmente alimentos de origen animal, son carnívoros. Esencialmente alimentos de origen vegetal, son herbívoros. Ambos, son omnívoros.

5. ¿Cuál es la principal vía para conocer lo que come un gato salvaje? La observación directa de ejemplares comiendo EL análisis de contenidos de los excremento El rastreo de los indicios de su presencia

6. El Yaguareté necesita alimento y protección, es decir, de un territorio con una gran y diversa cobertura vegetal ¿Puede compartir su territorio con otros ejemplares de la misma especie? Si No

Análisis del paisaje. Las zonas con presencia de gatos salvajes tienen un paisaje bien conservado y característico que debes aprender a analizar, para ello lo mejor es que seas capaz de reconocer los diferentes elementos que lo componen. Señala sobre las distintas fotografías, utilizando un color diferente para cada grupo: Todos los elementos que formen parte de la vegetación Todos los elementos de carácter mineral que formen parte del relieve Todos los elementos que sean resultado de la actividad humana

Amenazas sobre los felinos silvestres 1. ¿Cuáles son las amenazas que sufren los gatos silvestres? 2. ¿Por qué se produce? 3. ¿Quién es el responsable? 4. ¿Qué piensa tu familia de esta amenaza? 5. ¿Qué posibles soluciones tiene este problema?

Las cadenas tróficas forman una red- QUÉ COMEN LOS FELINOS? Elige a un felino y realiza una cadena diciendo de quien se alimenta y quien se lo come, elige solamente una especie para cada recuadro, repite la operación hasta llegar al final de la cadena por los extremos.

En el dibujo, busca el alimento del tigre.

Contando a través de un cómic Dibuja una historia en 10 viñetas de un gato silvestre desde el nacimiento hasta que se convierte en un adulto.

Appendix 4. Brochure about cat species in Yungas

Outside:

Inside:

Appendix 5. Complete list of species registered by camera traps during the project.

Common Species Conservation Barrio Camino Cantera Lotes San status (IUCN) Ediondo Campo 50-51 Pedrito Largo Mammals Native Cingulata Six -banded Euphrac tus LC 1 1 0 0 0 armadillo sexcinctus Southern Tamandua LC 0 1 0 2 0 tamandua tetradactyla Primates Black -capped Cebus apella LC 0 0 0 1 0 capuchin Carnivora Ocelot Leopardus pardalis LC 0 0 2 32 1 Margay Leopardus wiedii NT 4 0 0 5 0 Mountain Lion Puma concolor LC 1 1 0 6 0 Jaguarondi Puma yagouaroundi LC 4 0 1 4 1 Crab -eating Fox Cerdocyon thous LC 205 8 6 28 1 Hog -nosed Skunk Conepatus chinga LC 0 2 0 0 0 Grey headed Eira barbara LC 14 40 4 181 33 Tayra South America n Nasua nasua LC 3 0 0 0 0 Coati 4

Crab -eating Procyon cancrivorus LC 13 0 0 1 0 Raccoon Rodentia Central American Dasyprocta LC 11 8 2 45 3 Agouti punctata Lagomorpha Rodent Rodentia 2 0 0 177 0 Tapeti / Forest Sylvilagus LC 18 0 1 27 9 Rabbit brasiliensis Perissodactyla Tapir Tapirus terrestris V 0 0 2 7 2 Artiodactyla Red Brocket Deer Mazama americana DD 0 3 1 2 4 Gray brocket deer Mazama LC 5 2 0 3 0 gouazoubira Collared Peccary Pecari tajacu LC 0 1 1 0 5 Unident ified 10 8 3 8 2 mammal Exotic Cattle Bos taurus 161 30 8 38 4 Dog Canis familiaris 3 1 1 0 0 Horse Equus caballus 1 0 0 0 0 Pig Sus scrofa 0 0 1 0 0 domestica

Birds Gray -Necked Aramides caj anea ND 2 0 0 6 0 4

Wood -Rail The Turkey Cathartes aura LC 8 0 0 43 1 Vulture Tataupa Tinamou Crypturellus LC 13 1 0 16 0 tataupa Plush -crested Jay Cyanocorax LC 8 1 0 6 2 chrysops Purplish Jay Cyanocorax LC 2 0 1 41 0 cyanomelas Dusky -legge d Penelope obscura LC 5 0 3 2 6 Guan Crested Psarocolius LC 0 0 0 3 1 Oropendola decumanus Toco Toucan Ramphastos toco LC 0 1 0 0 0 Unidentified 10 1 0 29 1 bird 4

Appendix 6. Abstract of the presentation during IV Congreso binacional de Ecologia (Buenos Aires, August 2010)

Distribución de dos felinos en las Yungas: Tirica (Leopardus tigrinus ) y Margay ( Leopardus wiedii )

Cuyckens, Griet A.E., Perovic, Pablo G., Tognelli, Marcelo F.

La intensidad de la competencia interespecifica depen de de los requisitos de las especies. Dos especies congenéricas en simpatría a nivel regional pueden evitar la competencia repartiendo el espacio a menor escala. En este trabajo se pone a prueba la hipótesis de la partición geográfica a nivel mesoescala (1 km 2) en la ecoregion de las Yungas para Tirica (Leopardus tigrinus ) y Margay ( L. wiedii ). Para eso, se realizó una recopilación de puntos de presencia. En las Yungas, se midió la distancia promedia de los puntos de presencia de Tirica con respecto al Margay más cercano. Se realizaron mapas de distribución potencial (MaxEnt), que se superpusieron para medir el solapamiento. Se obtuvieron 68 puntos de presencia para cada especie, de los cuales el 54 % (37) de Margay se ubican en las Yungas y solo el 13 % (9) de Tirica. La distancia promedio es 5.26 (± 3.96) km. El Margay compartiría 27% de su área con Tirica, mientras que el Tirica compartiría 99 %, teniendo un solapamiento aproximado de 7305.3 km 2. No habría una partición del espacio a esta escala, y el Margay encontraría una superficie mayor de hábitat potencial en las Yungas con respecto al Tirica.

Appendix 7. Poster presented during X Congreso Internacional de Manejo de Fauna Silvestre en la Amazonía y Latinoamérica, 4 al 18 de Mayo, 2012, Salta – Argentina.

Appendix 8. Abstract “Primer congreso y VIII jornadas cientifico-tecnicas de la facultad de ciencias agrarias, UNJu” 15-19 Octubre 2012

DISTRIBUCIÓN Y CONSERVACIÓN DEL TIRICA ( LEOPARDUS TIGRINUS ) EN LAS YUNGAS, ARGENTINA

Cuyckens, G.A.E 1., Perovic, P.G 2.

1. Cátedra de Ecología de comunidades, Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy y Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). [email protected] 2. Administración de parques Nacionales, delegación del Noroeste Argentino. [email protected]

Resumen

En la Argentina y las Yungas, el Tirica es el felino con rango de distribución más pequeño y probablemente localmente rara. En este trabajo se presenta un mapa de prioridades de conservación para el Tirica ( Leopardus tigrinus ) que se desarrolló en base a un mapa de distribución potencial y un mapa de uso de la tierra. Para al mapa de distribución se desarrolló un modelo de distribución de la especie usando el programa MaxEnt y 64 puntos de presencia actual de la Argentina (Yungas y Bosque Atlántico). Se midió el rendimiento general del mapa con el AUC o área bajo la curva ROC, que fue de 0.996; lo que indica un buen rendimiento. Se superpuso este mapa con un mapa de uso de la tierra humano para excluir áreas no aptas para la especie. El mapa resultante indica que ya se ha perdido casi la mitad (48%) del hábitat potencial para la especie, en particular en el borde oriental de su distribución y en el sur donde probablemente la especie nunca estuvo presente. Dos aras son importantes para la conectividad del hábitat y por la alta probabilidad de presencia y por lo tanto, para la conservación de Tirica. Se espera que este mapa sea de utilidad para conservacionistas y tomadores de decisiones.

Bibliography

APRILE , G., CUYCKENS , E., DE ANGELO , C., DI BITETTI , M., LUCHERINI , M., MUZZACHIODI , N., ET AL . (2012) Familia: Felidae. In Libro rojo de Mamíferos amenazados de la Argentina (eds R.A. Ojeda, V. Chillo & G.B. Diaz Isenrath), pp. 92–101. SAREM, Argentina.

BICHERON (2008) ESA Globcover Project. MEDIAS, France.

BROWN , A.D., MALIZIA , L.R., ORDÓÑEZ , R., MALIZIA , S. & PACHADO, M. (2007) Las áreas protegidas privadas en las provincias de Jujuy y Salta. In p. 38. ProYungas, Argentina.

BROWN , A.D., PACHECO , S., LOMÁSCOLO , T. & MALIZIA , L.R. (2006) Situacion ambiental en los bosques andinos yungueños. In Situacion ambiental argentina 2005 pp. 53–72.

CUERVO , A., HERNANDEZ , J. & CADENA , C. (1986) Lista actualizada de los mamíferos de Colombia: anotaciones sobre su distribución. Caldasia , 471–501.

CUYCKENS , G.A.E. (2013) Distribución geográfica y conservación de los félidos presentes en Argentina y las Yungas a través de modelos de distribución de especies. Tesis doctoral, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Salta, Argentina.

DANIELSEN , F., MENDOZA , M.M., TAGTAG , A., ALVIOLA , P.A., BALETE , D.S., JENSEN , A.E., ET AL . (2007) Increasing conservation management action by involving local people in natural resource monitoring. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment , 36, 566–570.

HERNÁNDEZ , P.A., GRAHAM , C.H., MASTER , L.L. & ALBERT , D.L. (2006) The effect of sample size and species characteristics on performance of different species distribution modeling methods. Ecography , 29, 773–785.

IUCN (2012) The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Http://www.iucnredlist.org/ [accessed 24 November 2012].

NAVARRO , G. & MALDONADO , M. (2002) Geografía Ecológica de Bolivia: Vegetación y Ambientes Acuáticos. Centro de Ecología Simon I. Patiño. Departamento de Difusión, Cochabamba.

DE OLIVEIRA , T., EIZIRIK , E., SCHIPPER , J., VALDERRAMA , C., LEITE -PITMAN , R. & PAYAN , E. (2008) Leopardus tigrinus. IUCN 2012. Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.1 . Http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/11510/0 [accessed 20 July 2012].

PACHECO , S., MALIZIA , L.R. & CAYUELA , L. (2010) Effects of climate change on subtropical forests of South America. Tropical Conservation Science , 3, 423–437.

PEROVIC , P.G. (2002) Ecología de la comunidad de félidos en las selvas nubladas del Noroeste argentino. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba.

PHILLIPS , S.J., ANDERSON , R.P. & SCHAPIRE , R.E. (2006) Maximum entropy modeling of species geographic distributions. Ecological Modelling , 190, 231–259.

R DEVELOPMENT CORE TEAM (2012) The R Project for Statistical Computing. Viena, Austria. 4

RUMIZ , D.I., BROWN , A.D., PEROVIC , P.G., CHALUKIAN , S.C., CUYCKENS , G.E., JAYAT , P., ET AL . (2012) EL UCUMAR (Tremarctos ornatus), MITO Y REALIDAD DE SU PRESENCIA EN LA ARGENTINA.

THORN , J., NIJMAN , V., SMITH , D. & NEKARIS , K. (2009) Ecological niche modelling as a technique for assessing threats and setting conservation priorities for Asian slow lorises (Primates: Nycticebus). Diversity and Distributions , 15, 289–298.

Address list and web links

CETAS: http://centroestudiosterrit.wix.com/cetas

CONICET: http://www.conicet.gov.ar/

ProYungas: http://www.proyungas.org.ar/

CEBio: http://www.cebio.org.ar/

PanAmerican Energy: http://www.pan-energy.com/ ; Eugenia Barros: [email protected]

Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo: http://www.ambiente.gov.ar/

Pablo Perovic: [email protected]

Agustin Paviolo: [email protected]