Medium and Large in the Sierra La Madera, , Mexico

Erick Oswaldo Bermúdez-Enríquez Universidad de la Sierra, Moctezuma, Sonora Rosa Elena Jiménez-Maldonado Reserva Forestal Nacional y Refugio de Fauna Silvestre Ajos-, , Sonora Gertrudis Yanes-Arvayo, María de la Paz Montañez-Armenta, and Hugo Silva-Kurumiya Universidad de la Sierra, Moctezuma, Sonora

Abstract—Sierra La Madera is a mountain range in the Madrean Archipelago. It is in Fracción V of the Ajos-Bavispe CONANP Reserve in the Municipios (= Counties) of Cumpas, Granados, Huásabas, Moctezuma, and Villa Hidalgo. Medium and large mammals were inventoried using camera traps. Eighteen Wild View 2® camera traps were deployed during four sampling periods: August- September, September- November, and November-December (two times). The first and second sampling periods were on Ranchos La Bellota, La Palmita, and San Fernando in the southern Sierra La Madera. The last two sampling periods were on Ranchos La Mesa and El Mezquite, and Brecha CONAFOR in the northern Sierra la Madera, and again Brecha CONAFOR. The vegetation sampled was foothills thornscrub, oak woodland and pine-oak forest. Eighteen species of mammals in the orders , Artiodactyla, Didelphimorphia, Lagomorpha, and Rodentia were photographed. Four species of birds, including Aquila chrysaetos (golden eagle) were also photographed.

Introduction Púrica. Fracción V includes the Sierra La Madera at 29°55’N latitude 109°30’W longitude. (fig. 1).Complex topography and an elevational Sierra La Madera is a Sky Island mountain range located in the range of ca. 1685 m (from 615 m along Río Bavispe at Huásabas to transition between the New World tropics and the northern temperate over 2300 m on the highest peak) result in diverse habitats. The Sierra zone that is about 29°N in east-central Sonora, which enhances the la Madera is in the Municipios of Cumpas, Granados, Huásabas, diversity of flora and fauna. There are very few faunal studies of any Montezuma, and Villa Hidalgo, Sonora. Vegetation in the Sierra la kind in the Sky Island Region in Sonora. In 2011, Universidad de Madera along an elevational gradient is foothills thornscrub, desert la Sierra together with the CONANP Ajos-Bavispe Reserve began grassland, oak woodland, and pine-oak and pine forests (INEGI, faunal inventories using camera traps in the Sierra La Madera. Here, 1980; Yanes-A. and others 2010). we present the preliminary documentation of medium and large mam- According to Caire (1978) and other references cited in CONANP mals from 2011-2012. (s/f), the potential fauna in the Ajos-Bavispe Reserve is 93 species, representing 62.4% of the mammals of Sonora (Castillo- Gámez and others 2010) including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus Study Area virginianus), mule deer (O. hemionus), (Puma concolor), col- lared peccary (Tayassu tajacu), gray ( cinereoargenteus), The Ajos-Bavispe National Forest Reserve and National Wildlife squirrels (Sciurus arizonensis, Spermophilus variegatus), rabbits Refuge is a Reserve in the Comisión de Áreas Protegidas Naturales (Lepus spp., Sylvilagus spp), and others. (CONANP) system in northeastern Sonora, Mexico. It covers most of 184,000 hectares in five areas. Fracción I is in Sierra Pilares de Teras and part of the Sierra del Tigre. Fracción II is in the Sierra Pilares Materials and Methods de Nacozari. Fracción III is in San Diego and part of the Sierra del ® Tigre. Fracción IV includes the Sierras de Ajos, Buenos Aires, and La Wildview Extreme 2 Camera traps were placed in habitats during four periods from August 2011 to January 2012. They were strategically located at approximately 1 kilometer intervals on tree trunks 30 and 70 cm above the ground, with a north-south orientation. Attractants In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Ffolliott, Peter F.; Gebow, Brooke S.; Eskew, Lane (canned sardines or corn moistened with vanilla extract) were placed G.; Collins, Loa C., comps. 2013. Merging science and management in at a distance of about 3 m from the cameras. Geographical coordinates a rapidly changing world: Biodiversity and management of the Madrean and elevations were obtained using a Garmin Etrex Garmin® GPS unit. Archipelago III; 2012 May 1-5; Tucson, AZ. Proceedings. RMRS-P-67. Dominant plant species were listed to describe the habitat at each site. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station.

USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-67. 2013 463 Bermúdez-Enríquez, Jiménez-Maldonado, Yanes-Arvayo, and others Medium and Large Mammals in the Sierra La Madera, Sonora, Mexico

Figure 1—Study area, Ajos-Bavispe National Forest Reserve and national wildlife Refigie in northeastern Sonora. Fracción V includes the Sierra La Madera at 29°55'N lattitude 109°30'W longitude.

Table 1—Wildlife species recorded in August-December 2011 by camera traps in the Sierra La Madera, Montezuma, Sonora. SP = sampling period. *Species with protection category according to NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010. Order Family Species SP 1 SP 2 SP 3 SP 4 Carnívora Urocyon cinereoargenteus X X X X latrans X X X Puma concolor X X X X pardalis* X X rufus X X X X Ursidae americanus* X Mephitidae macroura X X X Conepatus mesoleucus X X X X Spilogale putorius X X X X narica X X X astutus X X lotor X X Artiodactyla Cervidae Odocoileus virginianus X X X X Tayassuidae Tayassu tajacu X X X Didelphimorphia Didelphidae Didelphis virginiana X X Lagomorpha Leporidae Sylvilagus floridanus X X Rodentia Sciuridae Sciurus arizonensis X X Rodentia Sciuridae Spermophilus variegatus X X X X

The first and second sampling periods were on Ranchos La Bellota, Results La Palmita/Mesa Quemada, and San Fernando in the southern Sierra la Madera. The third sampling period was on Ranchos El Mesquite Eighteen species of mammals were recorded in orders Carnivora and La Mesa, and on Brecha CONAFOR. During the fourth sampling (five families), Artiodactyla (two families), Rodentia, Lagomorpha, period, six cameras were returned to Brecha CONAFOR. and Didelphimorphia (one family each). Of mammals photographed, 55% were medium-sized mammals and 45% large mammals (table 1). Domestic or wildlife species introduced by man were also documented, including cows, horses, burros, goats, and . Fourteen mammal

464 USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-67. 2013 Medium and Large Mammals in the Sierra La Madera, Sonora, Mexico Bermúdez-Enríquez, Jiménez-Maldonado, Yanes-Arvayo, and others species were photographed during the second sampling period. A single preliminary and additional camera traps in different areas and habitats black (Ursus americanus) was seen at Rancho San Fernando are needed to more fully document the mammal fauna of the Sierra La Madera, which likely contains ( onca). Discussion and Conclusions References Fifty-five percent of the records belong to medium-sized mammals. The rock squirrel (Spermophilus variegatus) was the most abundant Caire, William. 1978. The distribution and zoogeography of mammals of species. In the large mammals, the white-tailed deer was the most Sonora. PhD. Diss. Albuquerque: New Mexico. abundant. Medium-sized mammals were most common in fall-winter, Castillo-Gámez, Reyna A.; Gallo-Reynoso, Juan P.; Egido-Villarreal, Janitzio; while large mammals were seen more often in summer-fall. and Caire, William. 2010 Mamíferos. Pg. 421-426 in Molina-Freaner, Francisco and Van Devender, Thomas R. eds., Diversidad Biológica de The Sierra La Madera mammal fauna has only 19.4% of the 93 Sonora, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, , Sonora. mammal species potentially occuring i n the Ajos-Bavispe Reserve CONANP. [n.d.] Estudio Previo Justificativo, Área de Protección de Flora (Caire, 1978; CONANP, s / f), but small species were not sampled. y Fauna Mavavi. Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales. The gray squirrel (Sciurus arizonensis) was seen in the México. 150 p. third and fourth sampling periods in oak woodland and pine-oak Norma Oficial Mexicana. 2010. NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010. Diario Ofi- forest on Rancho la Mesa and Brecha CONAFOR. This is a 110 east- cial de la Federación. Segunda sección. Jueves 30 de diciembre de 2010. southeast range extension from Arroyo Santo Domingo near Mexico. 78 p. of a central Arizona-northern Sonora regional endemic species. The Yanes-Arvayo, Gertrudis; Montañez-Armenta, María de la Paz ; Silva- Mexican Fox Squirrel (Sciurus nayaritensis) was not photographed Kurumiya, Hugo; and Gil-Montaño, Enrique. 2011. Catálogo de Fauna de in the present study, but was previously observed on Rancho San Sierra La Madera. Fracción V de la Reserva Ajos Bavispe. Universidad de la Sierra, Hermosillo, Sonora. Fernando by Stephen L. Minter in August 2010 and the northern Yanes-Arvayo, Gertrudis; Silva-Kurumiya, Hugo; Montañez-Armenta, María Sierra La Madera by Dale Turner in September 2003 (see Madrean de la Paz; and Castellanos-Villegas, Alejando E. 2010. Flora de Sierra la Archipelago Biodiversity Assessment [MABA] database, Madrean. Madera en el estado de Sonora, México. VII Internacional Sobre la Flora org). This is a species reaching its western Silvestre en Zonas Áridas. Departamento de Investigaciones Científicas y range limits. Tecnológicas de la Universidad de Sonora. Hermosillo, Sonora. México. Three species of mammals (Leopardus pardalis, Sciurus arizo- Del 17-19 de marzo. nensis, U. americanus) as well as golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) are protected under NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010. These results are

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