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The potential for large-scale wildlife corridors between protected areas in Brazil using the jaguar as a model species

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Abstract

Most large reserves in Brazil do not hold viable populations of jaguars to guarantee the species’ long-term survival. Corridors linking populations have been identified as a potential tool to avoid negative effects of isolation, increasing population viability. Here, we performed a Brazil-wide evaluation of potential large scale corridors connecting protected jaguar populations. Six variables (human population size, dam reservoir size, number of dams, roads, railways and cities) expected to negatively impact jaguar movement were analyzed across 180 potential corridors connecting 298 protected jaguar areas. We established overall disturbance scores for the corridors using a principal components analysis and compared them among the Brazilian biomes. We further investigated which variables separated biomes using a canonical variates analysis. The Atlantic Forest and the semi-arid Caatinga have the most impacted potential corridors, whereas the Amazon and Pantanal still have the best potential corridors. Corridor quality in the Cerrado grasslands was intermediate. All variables but human population size and corridor length contributed significantly to differences in corridor variables among biomes. Our conclusions suggest that we need to plan the implementation of large scale corridors in the Amazon, Pantanal and particularly the Cerrado soon, while potential corridors might still be economically viable. In the much more impacted Atlantic Forest and Caatinga, the need for conservation actions is strongest, but logistical difficulties and costs may turn implementation of corridors unfeasible.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Memphis Zoo, Earthwatch Institute, Monsanto Fund and Mantecorp for financial support of JCF work on jaguar corridors across Brazil. We are indebted with Raphael Almeida and Renato Moreira for help with GIS analyses in the earlier stages of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jaguar Conservation Fund/Instituto Onça-Pintada, P.O. Box 193, 75830-000, Mineiros, GO, Brazil

    Leandro Silveira, Rahel Sollmann, Anah T. A. Jácomo & Natália M. Tôrres

  2. Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Rahel Sollmann

  3. Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil

    José A. F. Diniz Filho

  4. Federal University of Uberlândia, Uberlândia, MG, Brazil

    Natália M. Tôrres

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  1. Leandro Silveira
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Correspondence to Leandro Silveira.

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Silveira, L., Sollmann, R., Jácomo, A.T.A. et al. The potential for large-scale wildlife corridors between protected areas in Brazil using the jaguar as a model species. Landscape Ecol 29, 1213–1223 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-014-0057-4

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