Alibhai

Almeida-Neto

Ballenger

Boissier

Bueno

Cadastro Nacional de Unidades de Conservação

Carbal-Borges

Centoducatte

Chiarello

Conservação Internacional do Brasil

Cruz

Di Bitetti

Dirzo

Eisenberg

Elbroch

Flesher

Foerster

Fragoso

Galetti

Gatti

GIMP team

Giombini

Glanz

Gusset

Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística

Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservação da Biodiversidade

Jewell

Linnaeus

Medici

Mejía-Correa

Michalski

Naranjo

Naveda

Noss

Oliveira-Santos

O’Farrill

Peres

Petridou

Pimm

Ramírez

Rizzini

Simpson

Souza

Tobler

Wallace

PeerJ

English

BackgroundAs a landscape architect and a major seed disperser, the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) is an important indicator of the ecological health of certain habitats. Therefore, reliable data regarding tapir populations are fundamental in understanding ecosystem dynamics, including those associated with the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. Currently, many population monitoring studies use invasive tagging with radio or satellite/Global Positioning System (GPS) collars. These techniques can be costly and unreliable, and the immobilization required carries physiological risks that are undesirable particularly for threatened and elusive species such as the lowland tapir.MethodsWe collected data from one of the last regions with a viable population of lowland tapir in the south-eastern Atlantic Forest, Brazil, using a new non-invasive method for identifying species, the footprint identification technique (FIT).ResultsWe identified the minimum number of tapirs in the study area and, in addition, we observed that they have overlapping ranges. Four hundred and forty footprints from 46 trails collected from six locations in the study area in a landscape known to contain tapir were analyzed, and 29 individuals were identified from these footprints.DiscussionWe demonstrate a practical application of FIT for lowland tapir censusing. Our study shows that FIT is an effective method for the identification of individuals of a threatened species, even when they lack visible natural markings on their bodies. FIT offers several benefits over other methods, especially for tapir management. As a non-invasive method, it can be used to census or monitor species, giving rapid feedback to managers of protected areas.</jats:sec

Danielle O. Moreira

Sky K. Alibhai

Zoe C. Jewell

Cristina J. da Cunha

Jardel B. Seibert

Andressa Gatti

Crossref

Determining the numbers of a landscape architect species (<i>Tapirus terrestris</i>), using footprints

Supplemental Information 9: Pairwise robust cross-validated discriminant analysis.

Supplemental Information 9: Pairwise robust cross-validated discriminant analysis.

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Crossref