Species richness and relative abundance of terrestrial mammals in an area with different managements in Costa Rica
Guardat en:
| Autors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | artículo original |
| Estat: | Versión publicada |
| Data de publicació: | 2026 |
| Descripció: | Introduction: While essential, protected areas are sometimes insufficient to conserve wildlife. Terrestrial mammals often move between protected and unprotected sites, and the abundance of one species may influence the occurrence of others. Objectives: To compare mammal species richness and relative abundance between three nearby sites with different management approaches in a tropical dry forest. Methods: We placed 18 camera traps in three contiguous sites under different management schemes (a national park – high protection; forest reserve – medium protection; and a non-protected site) in northwest Costa Rica between December 31, 2021, and March 31, 2022, and compared the richness and relative abundance of terrestrial mammal species occurring in each site. Results: We recorded 730 independent captures corresponding to 18 species. The highest number of species was recorded in the forest reserve (16 species), but 10 species were found at all three locations. The most abundant species were white-tailed deer, jaguars and tapirs in the National Park, ocelots in the Forest Reserve, and white-faced capuchins, white-nosed coatis, common opossums, raccoons, and coyotes in the non-protected site. Generalist species were more commonly detected in the unprotected site, whereas specialist species were highly reported in the protected sites. Conclusions: Different management restrictions could affect the presence and relative abundance of terrestrial mammals. However, other factors such as the presence of rivers, trails, and/or roads could also affect movements and influence distribution. A detailed analysis of the factors driving species abundance in sites with different management could improve species protection throughout their range. |
| Pais: | Portal de Revistas UCR |
| Institution: | Universidad de Costa Rica |
| Repositorio: | Portal de Revistas UCR |
| Idioma: | Inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:portal.revistas.ucr.ac.cr:article/3589 |
| Accés en línia: | https://revistas.ucr.ac.cr/index.php/rrbt/article/view/3589 |
| Paraula clau: | Tropical dry forest Camera trapping Guanacaste Conservation Area Santa Rosa National Park Horizontes Forest Reserve Playa Cabuyal Protection level Bosque tropical seco Fototrampeo Área de Conservación Guanacaste Parque Nacional Santa Rosa Estación Experimental Forestal Horizontes Nivel de protección |