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| Dotta, G.; Verdade, L.M. | |
| Felids in an agricultural landscape in SÆo Paulo, Brazil | |
| 2009 Cat News (51): 24-27 | |
We surveyed felids in an agricultural landscape in SÆo Paulo, Brazil, from July 2003 to June 2004. A total of 284 km was walked in transects distributed among the following landscape attributes: semi-deciduous native forest fragments, Eucalyptus plantations, sugar-cane plantations and exotic pastures. The diversity and abundance of felid species were evaluated in the mosaic, and we tested possible differences in frequency of occurrence and species richness according to the land use type by using Nested ANOVA. We found a total of five felid species and the analysis showed no differences for both frequency of occurrence and species richness. We also compared the abundance of species found through studies using similar methodology in different areas by using the Kruskal-Wallis test, and no differences in abundance were found. Results demonstrate the difficulty of obtaining data about felid abundance even after one year of fieldwork. However, we could confirm the species occurrence in the area, and the similarity found in species abundance in our region and in more conserved areas allows us to say that Neotropical wild felids can survive in agricultural landscapes as long as native forest fragments remain in the area. Current environmental laws should thus be enforced in order to improve forest conservation and to mitigate the possible impacts of agriculture, paper industry, and livestock production on those species. |
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