AREAS Project |
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Obtaining critical data for the design of conservation landscapes in the Southwestern Amazon
Directed by Dr. George Powell, Conservation Science Program
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WWF is studying wide-ranging species like jaguars to determine how much habitat they require to survive in healthy populations.
photo: WWF / Howard Buffett |
Scientists have not yet determined how large a block of Amazonian forest habitat must be to support populations of all native species. This project is studying the home range requirements of several species that we believe are most sensitive to restrictions in habitat availability to better estimate adequate reserve size and configuration in the Amazon. By studying wide-ranging species -- such as jaguars, white-lipped peccaries, fruit-eating birds such as macaws and fruit crows, and large migratory catfish -- we hope to determine how much habitat they require to survive in healthy populations.
We are also studying the use of certain landscape features, such as palm swamps and clay licks, which may be essential for the survival of these and other related species. Data are gathered through capturing and radio-tagging individuals of each species and fitting them with radio collars that allow researchers to follow and gather information on the same individuals over time. By mapping and spatially analyzing locations of marked animals, researchers can determine annual home ranges and habitat preferences of each individual, any overlap among individuals, and possible changes in habitat use related to seasonality or to long-term climatic cycles such as El Niño events. By compiling habitat use data on a suite of species, this effort aims to provide a scientifically rigorous basis for justifying the size and spatial configuration of a network of protected and managed areas to conserve terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity in the southwestern Amazon, while this region is still relatively intact.
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