Biodivers Conserv
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-018-1571-5
1 3
ORIGINAL PAPER
Thresholds of riparian forest use by terrestrial mammals
in a fragmented Amazonian deforestation frontier
Barbara Zimbres
1,3
· Carlos A. Peres
2
· Gabriel Penido
1
· Ricardo B. Machado
1
Received: 17 September 2017 / Revised: 15 May 2018 / Accepted: 24 May 2018
© Springer Science+Business Media B.V., part of Springer Nature 2018
Abstract Species persistence in fragmented landscapes is intimately related to the qual-
ity, structure, and context of remaining habitat remnants. Riparian vegetation is legally
protected within private landholdings in Brazil, so we quantitatively assessed occupancy
patterns of terrestrial mammals in these remnants, examining under which circumstances
different species effectively use them. We selected 38 riparian forest patches and five com-
parable riparian sites within continuous forest, at which we installed four to five camera-
traps per site (199 camera-trap stations). Terrestrial mammal assemblages were sampled
for 60 days per station during the dry seasons of 2013 and 2014. We modelled species
occupancy and detection probabilities within riparian forest remnants, and examined the
effects of patch size, habitat quality, and landscape structure on occupancy probabilities.
We then scaled-up modelled occupancies to all 1915 riparian patches throughout the study
region to identify which remnants retain the greatest potential to work as habitat for ter-
restrial vertebrates. Of the ten species for which occupancy was modelled, six responded
to forest quality (remnant degradation, cattle intrusion, palm aggregations, and under-
storey density) or structure (remnant width, isolation, length, and area of the patch from
which it originates). Patch suitability was lower considering habitat quality than landscape
Communicated by David Hawksworth.
This article belongs to the Topical Collection: Forest and plantation biodiversity.
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https ://doi.org/10.1007/s1053
1-018-1571-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
* Barbara Zimbres
babizimbres@gmail.com
1
Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília,
Brasília 70910-900, Brazil
2
School of Environmental Sciences, Norwich Research Park, University of East Anglia,
Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
3
SHIN QL 11 conjunto 6 casa 11, Brasília, DF 71515-765, Brazil
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera