Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

Habitat characteristics and human activities are known to play a major role in the occupancy of jaguars Panthera onca across their range, however the key variables influencing jaguar distribution in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica, have yet to be identified. This study evaluated jaguar occupanc...

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Autores principales:	Arroyo-Arce, Stephanny, Guilder, James, Salom-Pérez, Roberto
Formato:	Online
Idioma:	spa
Publicado:	Universidad de Costa Rica 2014
Acceso en línea:	https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/13314

id	RBT13314
record_format	ojs
spelling	RBT133142022-06-09T17:30:45Z Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica Arroyo-Arce, Stephanny Guilder, James Salom-Pérez, Roberto Panthera onca marine turtles human pressures occupancy models Tortuguero National Park. Habitat characteristics and human activities are known to play a major role in the occupancy of jaguars Panthera onca across their range, however the key variables influencing jaguar distribution in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica, have yet to be identified. This study evaluated jaguar occupancy in Tortuguero National Park and the surrounding area. Jaguar detection/non-detection data was collected using digital camera traps distributed within the boundaries of the protected area. Local community members were also interviewed to determine jaguar occurrence in the Park's buffer zone. Occupancy models were then applied to identify the habitat characteristics that may better explain jaguar distribution across the study area. From June 2012 to June 2013, a total of 4 339 camera trap days were used to identify 18 individual jaguars inside the protected area; 17 of these jaguars were exclusively detected within the coastal habitat, whilst the remaining individual was detected solely within the interior of the Park. Interviewees reported 61 occasions of jaguar presence inside the buffer zone, between 1995 and 2013, with 80% of these described by the communities of Lomas de Sierpe, Barra de Parismina and La Aurora. These communities also reported the highest levels of livestock predation by jaguars (85% of attacks). In the study area, jaguar occurrence was positively correlated with the seasonal presence of nesting green turtles Chelonia mydas, and negatively correlated with distance to the Park boundary. Our findings suggested that the current occupancy of the jaguar in the study area may be a response to: 1) the vast availability of prey (marine turtles) on Tortuguero beach, 2) the decline of its primary prey species as a result of illegal hunting inside the Park, and 3) the increase in anthropogenic pressures in the Park boundaries. Stephanny Arroyo-Arce1, James Guilder2 & Roberto Salom-Pérez3 1Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, 1350-3000 Heredia, Costa Rica; sturnina@gmail.com2Global Vision International/GVI Costa Rica, 230-60601 Quepos, Costa Rica; jamesguilder@gmail.com3Panthera Costa Rica, 8-3870-1000 San José, Costa Rica; rsalom@panthera.org Correspondence Universidad de Costa Rica 2014-12-01 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf text/html https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/13314 10.15517/rbt.v62i4.13314 Revista de Biología Tropical; Vol. 62 No. 4 (2014): Volume 62 – Regular number 4 – December 2014; 1449–1458 Revista de Biología Tropical; Vol. 62 Núm. 4 (2014): Volumen 62 – Número regular 4 – Diciembre 2014; 1449–1458 Revista Biología Tropical; Vol. 62 N.º 4 (2014): Volume 62 – Regular number 4 – December 2014; 1449–1458 2215-2075 0034-7744 10.15517/rbt.v62i4 spa https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/13314/16355 https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/13314/16356 Copyright (c) 2014 Revista de Biología Tropical http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
institution	Universidad de Costa Rica
collection	Revista de Biología Tropical
language	spa
format	Online
author	Arroyo-Arce, Stephanny Guilder, James Salom-Pérez, Roberto
spellingShingle	Arroyo-Arce, Stephanny Guilder, James Salom-Pérez, Roberto Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
author_facet	Arroyo-Arce, Stephanny Guilder, James Salom-Pérez, Roberto
author_sort	Arroyo-Arce, Stephanny
description	Habitat characteristics and human activities are known to play a major role in the occupancy of jaguars Panthera onca across their range, however the key variables influencing jaguar distribution in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica, have yet to be identified. This study evaluated jaguar occupancy in Tortuguero National Park and the surrounding area. Jaguar detection/non-detection data was collected using digital camera traps distributed within the boundaries of the protected area. Local community members were also interviewed to determine jaguar occurrence in the Park's buffer zone. Occupancy models were then applied to identify the habitat characteristics that may better explain jaguar distribution across the study area. From June 2012 to June 2013, a total of 4 339 camera trap days were used to identify 18 individual jaguars inside the protected area; 17 of these jaguars were exclusively detected within the coastal habitat, whilst the remaining individual was detected solely within the interior of the Park. Interviewees reported 61 occasions of jaguar presence inside the buffer zone, between 1995 and 2013, with 80% of these described by the communities of Lomas de Sierpe, Barra de Parismina and La Aurora. These communities also reported the highest levels of livestock predation by jaguars (85% of attacks). In the study area, jaguar occurrence was positively correlated with the seasonal presence of nesting green turtles Chelonia mydas, and negatively correlated with distance to the Park boundary. Our findings suggested that the current occupancy of the jaguar in the study area may be a response to: 1) the vast availability of prey (marine turtles) on Tortuguero beach, 2) the decline of its primary prey species as a result of illegal hunting inside the Park, and 3) the increase in anthropogenic pressures in the Park boundaries. Stephanny Arroyo-Arce1, James Guilder2 & Roberto Salom-Pérez3 1Instituto Internacional en Conservación y Manejo de Vida Silvestre, Universidad Nacional, 1350-3000 Heredia, Costa Rica; sturnina@gmail.com2Global Vision International/GVI Costa Rica, 230-60601 Quepos, Costa Rica; jamesguilder@gmail.com3Panthera Costa Rica, 8-3870-1000 San José, Costa Rica; rsalom@panthera.org Correspondence
title	Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
title_short	Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
title_full	Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
title_fullStr	Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
title_full_unstemmed	Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica
title_sort	habitat features influencing jaguar panthera onca (carnivora: felidae) occupancy in tortuguero national park, costa rica
publisher	Universidad de Costa Rica
publishDate	2014
url	https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rbt/article/view/13314
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Habitat features influencing jaguar Panthera onca (Carnivora: Felidae) occupancy in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica

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