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Density and Spatial Distribution of Buffy-tufted-ear Marmosets (Callithrix aurita) in a Continuous Atlantic Forest

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Abstract

The continued degradation of forest habitats and isolation of fragmented populations means that the conservation of endemic marmosets in the Brazilian Atlantic forest depends on human interventions including legal protection. Population monitoring is required to ensure effective management and appropriate allocation of conservation resources; however, deriving estimates of population metrics such as density within heterogeneous environments is challenging. We aimed to quantify the population density and spatial distribution of buffy-tufted-ear marmosets (Callithrix aurita) in the northern region of Serra-do-Mar State Park. We incorporated habitat suitability as quantified by a niche modeling algorithm (MAXENT) to refine density estimates obtained via distance methods. We used 6 environmental predictors to model the distribution of Callithrix aurita and used the resulting MAXENT niche model to identify environmental conditions that represent suitable habitat for this species. We used 877.7 km of line transect surveys and distance methods to derive estimates of 2.19 groups or 7.55 individuals/km2 from direct observations (n = 40), providing an overall population estimate of 1892 (95% CI = 1155–3068) individuals in 250.7 km2 of Atlantic forest. Our refined density estimate, obtained by combining distance methods and a niche model, yielded a result of 1386 individuals. Suitable habitat was not uniformly distributed across the study area and was most strongly associated with altitude and the type of vegetation cover. We provide a review of previous surveys and find this is the largest known population of Callithrix aurita. Our refinement of density estimates provides a simple and informative addition to the primatologist’s toolbox.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo – FAPESP (Biota Program, FAPESP 2001/14463-5, 2007/03392-6, and 2007/00613-1). M. Galetti received a fellowship from CNPq. R. Marques and F. Rocha-Mendes received a fellowship from FAPESP and D. Norris from CNPq. We thank Fernanda Michalski for compilation of density estimates of Callithrix aurita and invaluable comments on a previous version of this manuscript. We thank UNESP (Rio Claro) for logistical support and the Instituto Florestal de São Paulo for permission to conduct research in the study sites, logistical help, and accommodation. We thank 2 referees and the editor for their constructive comments, which led to a much improved version.

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  1. Laboratório de Biologia da Conservação, Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Caixa Postal 199, Rio Claro, SP, 13506–900, Brazil

    Darren Norris, Fabiana Rocha-Mendes, Renato Marques, Rodrigo de Almeida Nobre & Mauro Galetti

  2. Instituto Neotropical: Pesquisa e Conservação, CP 19009, CEP 81531–980, Curitiba, PR, Brazil

    Fabiana Rocha-Mendes

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  1. Darren Norris
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Correspondence to Darren Norris.

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Norris, D., Rocha-Mendes, F., Marques, R. et al. Density and Spatial Distribution of Buffy-tufted-ear Marmosets (Callithrix aurita) in a Continuous Atlantic Forest. Int J Primatol 32, 811–829 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-011-9503-1

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