A camera-trap based inventory to assess species composition of large- and medium-sized terrestrial mammals in a Lowland Amazonian rainforest in Loreto, Peru: a comparison of wet and dry season Panthera onca Master-Thesis To gain the Master of Science degree (M.Sc.) in Wildlife Ecology & Wildlife Management of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria presented by Robert Behnke (1240308) born May 10, 1982 in Dresden, Germany Master Thesis Advisor: Dr. Dirk Meyer, Germany 1st Evaluator: Prof. Dr. Keith Hodges, Germany 2nd Evaluator: Dr. Dirk Meyer, Germany Vienna, Austria – 19th October 2015 i ii Acknowledgements First of all, I want to thank Prof. Keith Hodges of the German Primate Center (DPZ), Göttingen, Lower Saxony for practical advice concerning methodology of the study, as well as financial support concerning transportation and material for the camera-trap based survey in Peru. Furthermore, I thank Dr. Dirk Meyer and Dr. Christian Matauschek of Chances for Nature e.V. in Berlin for practical advice and the opportunity to participate in the project and in Peru and to conduct an inventory focusing on large- and medium-sized terrestrial mammal species composition in the study area. Additional acknowledgments belong to Anna Anschütz, Gabriel Hirsch and Sabine Moll, who supervised and executed the collection of data for the camera-trap based inventory during the dry season. In Peru, I want to kindly thank Dr. Mark Bowler, Iquitos who gave me useful insight information on how to deploy and set camera traps, as well as addressing practical concerns, when placing cameras in neotropical environments. Furthermore, Manolo Martin Branas of the IIAP (Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana) in Iquitos for establishing contacts with local authorities, in particular between the Ministry of the Peruvian Environment, the Reserva Matses and the SERNANP (Servicio Nacional de Areas Naturales Potegidas por el Estado), as well as Ing. Carola Carpio of the SERNANP in Iquitos, who administer the official concerns of the Reserva Matsés. Additionally Angela Martin Branas for support in obtaining tools and material while in Iquitos, in preparation of field work activities. Last the wonderful staff of Hotel La Pascana in Iquitos, who provided accommodation and hints concerning daily life in the middle of nowhere. I want to thank Mr. Russell Claus from Canada and Mrs. Heather Parris from the UK, who advised, reviewed and revised the present thesis for proper English writing, spelling and syntax. I also want to thank the people of the native community Buen Jesus de Paz in the heart of the Amazonian Tropical Lowland Rainforest of Loreto, especially my field assistant Bethman Navarro Garcia, his sister Manuela for cooking, Juan Carlos, Wilder Navarro and finally Abuelita Adelina, who had an answer for every infection or malady in terms of different natural remedies at hand. Thank you all very much. Finally I thank the fauna of the Peruvian Amazon, which found the camera trap locations tempting enough, to leave records in the form of photographs. This allowed us consequently, to present “a bigger picture” of mammalian diversity with an inventory presented in this thesis of a part of the Lowland Tropical Rainforest of Loreto, Peru previously undescribed. - iii iv Abstract In the present camera-trap based inventory, we investigated and evaluated the occurrence and species composition of large- and medium-sized terrestrial mammals in the proposed conservation area in the surroundings of the lower Río Tapiche / Río Blanco in the Peruvian Amazon. This thesis presents the first camera-trap based inventory focusing on large- and medium-sized terrestrial mammals in the departement of Requena. Therefore, passive sensor powered camera traps were used to sample the heterogeneous study area on 90 different trap locations during the rainy and the dry season from April to December 2014. We evaluated the efficiency of the deployed camera traps collected data by the use of descriptive statistics and species accumulation curves, to assess the completeness of the inventory. Furthermore were species composition, capture events and rates of rainy and dry season evaluated and both seasons compared with each other. Besides that, activity patterns of captured species between rainy and dry season were reviewed and the results checked with similar studies conducted in the Amazon Basin. Additionally was the present inventory with other studies concentrating on terrestrial mammal species composition in Lowland Tropical Rainforest of South America compared to allow an assumption about the status of mammalian biodiversity in the study area of Requena, Peru. The camera trapping effort of 2614 camera trap days yielded a total of 108.558 photographs, of which 3987 were used in the analysis via Camera Base. In total 28 species of mammals were recorded, including 3 xenarthrans, 11 carnivore, 4 ungulate, 5 caviomorph rodent and 2 primate species. Additionally, 15 avifaunal and 3 arboreal species were recorded which were excluded from analysis. Capture frequencies for the five most frequently captured species were highly correlated between the two seasons. Additionally, were the results of our study in close concordance with the mammal species composition of studies used for comparison. In this study, we show that the use of camera traps for inventorial purposes is a reliable tool to assess species composition in the Neotropics. The methodology used, proved to be effective, and can be incorporated for future wildlife monitoring and management planning in the study area, as well as for similar research questions. The inventory was conducted to support ongoing conservation efforts of the German NGO “Chances for Nature e.V.” and the German Primate Center (DPZ), who initiated and funded the present study. Keywords: Camera trapping, species accumulation curves, inventory, camera trap days, neotropical, terrestrial, mammal, species composition, diversity, Peru, rainy season, dry season v vi List of Abbreviations Acc. Comm. – according to communication BHD – breast height diameter BJDP - (Native community of) Villa Buen Jesus de Paz CTD, CTD´s - camera trap days (no. of deployed cameras multiplied with placement time) DS - dry Season e.V. - Registered society (eingetragener Verein) IIAP - Instituto de Investigaciones de Amazonas Peruana km – kilometer (1000 m) LED – Light-emitting-diode Pers. Comm. – personal comment Pers. Obs. – personal observation RS – rainy season SERNANP – Servicio Nacional de Areas Naturales Protegidas por el Estado vii viii Table of Contents 1. Introduction Seite 1.1 General Introduction 1 1.2 Chances for Nature 1 1.3 Wildlife sustaining livelihoods of local communities 1 1.4 Mammal inventories 2 1.5 Camera trapping 2 1.5.1 Basic functionality of a camera trapping device 4 1.5.2 Camera Trap Types 4 1.5.3 Data Management 5 1.5.4 Environmental and social factors affecting camera surveys 5 1.6 Planning considerations & Logistical constraints 6 1.7 Completeness of inventories 6 1.8 Surveys on terrestrial mammal species composition in the Amazon 7 2. Objectives of the present study 8 2.1 Working hypothesis 8 3. Material & Methods 9 3.1 Study area 9 - 10 3.2 Time schedule 11 3.3 Criteria for Camera Trap Placement 12 3.4 Camera Type & Settings 13 3.5 Distribution of camera trap locations 14 3.5.1 Rainy Season 14 3.5.2 Dry Season 14 3.6 Data analysis 15 3.6.1 Introduction to Camera Base 15 3.6.2 Data analysis 16 ix 4. Results 18 4.1 Capture frequency and species list 18 4.2 Species accumulation curves 22 4.3 Activity patterns – Comparison Rainy & Dry Season 23 4.4 Alimentation Types 25 4.5 Predator / Prey – Ratio 26 5. Discussion 27 6. Conclusion 40 7. Criticism, outlook and management implications 42 List of references XIII Appendix I: Pictures XVIII Appendix II: Tables & Graphs XXVII Glossary l Declaration of independent work li x List of figures & graphs Figure 1. Project Area 10 Figure 2. Map showing Matsés Reserve (A, B) and the core of the study area 10 Figure 3. Planned Rectangular Trapping Grid 11 Figure 4. Camera Trap Locations entire study 14 Figure 5. User Interface Camera Base 15 Appendix 1 App. 2.1.- 2.28.Pictures of captured species in the study XVIII - XXV App. 1.29 Details of camera trap snapshot XXVI - Graph 1. Capture frequency of this study compared to Tobler et al. (2008) 19 Graph 2. Capture Rates of our study in comparison to Tobler et al. (2008) 19 Graph 3. Comparison of seasons - Species Accumulation Curves 22 Graph 4. Distribution of Alimentation Types in rainy and dry season 25 Graph 5. Overall composition of alimentation types in our study 25 Graph 6. Predator/Prey-Ratio in comparison of rainy and dry season 26 Graph 7. Example of Activity Patterns C. paca and D. fuliginosa 32 Graph 8. Distribution Alimentation Types in our study in comparison to Tobler et al. (2008) 33 Graph 9. Overall composition of alimentation types in our study in comparison to Tobler et al. (2008) 33 Graph 10. Predator/Prey-Ratio in our study compared with Tobler et al. (2008) 34 Graph 11. Predator/Prey-Ratio in our study in comparison to other inventories conducted in neotropical lowland rainforest 34 Appendix 2 App. 2.1 Capture Rates Rainy and Dry Season XXVII App. 2.2 Capture Frequency in our study compared to Tobler et al. (2008) XXVIII App. 2.3 SAC Rainy Season (April – July 2014) XXIX App. 2.4 SAC Dry Season Step 1 (August – September 2014) XXIX App. 2.5 SAC Dry Season Step 2 (October – December 2014) XXIX xi App. 2.6 Predator-Prey Ratio between seasons and in comparison to Tobler et al. (2008) XXX App. 2.7 Predator-Prey Ratio in our study in comparison to other inventories in Neotropical Lowland Forest XXX App.