Estimating puma Puma concolor population size in a human-disturbed landscape in Brazil, using DNA mark-recapture data

2014
The genetics and ecology of pumasare well documented in North America but there is a lack of studies in South America, especially in Brazil. By means of a noninvasive method, faecal DNA analysis, we estimated pumaabundance in two protected areasembedded in a human-disturbed landscape in the north-east of Sao Paulo state, in south-east Brazil. In 8 months of mark-recapture faeces sampling, 15 individual pumaswere identified using seven microsatellite loci. The estimated abundance of pumaswith the Jolly-Seber open population modelwas 23.81 ±SE 6.22. This is the first estimate of the abundance of pumasin a human-dominated landscape in Sao Paulo state, the most populous, developed and industrialized state of Brazil. The absence of high-quality habitats in the north- east of the state, the absence of direct competitors and the high availabilityof prey in protected areasare probably contributing to the high number of pumasconcentrated in a relatively small area (c. 260 km 2 ). Our results will contribute to the long-term monitoring of this pumapopulation and, combined with otherecological, behaviour- al and genetic data, will help guide conservation action to maintain a viable population of the pumain this region.
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