Identification of Priority Conservation Areas and Potential Corridors for Jaguars in the Caatinga Biome, Brazil

Brazil. PLoS ONE 9(4): e92950. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0092950 Identification of Priority Conservation Areas and Potential Corridors for Jaguars in the Caatinga Biome, Brazil Ronaldo Gonc alves Morato 0 Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz 0 Roge rio Cunha de Paula 0 Cla udia Bueno de Campos 0 Nei Moreira, Federal University of Parana (UFPR) ) - Campus Palotina, Brazil 0 1 Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservac a o de Mam feros Carn voros - Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservac a o da Biodiversidade - Ministe rio do Meio Ambiente , Atibaia, Sa o Paulo , Brazil , 2 Instituto para a Conservac a o dos Carn voros Neotropicais , Atibaia, Sa o Paulo , Brazil , 3 Departamento de Ciencias Florestais , Escola Superior de Agricultura ''Luiz de Queiroz'' , Universidade de Sa o Paulo , Piracicaba, Sa o Paulo , Brazil The jaguar, Panthera onca, is a top predator with the extant population found within the Brazilian Caatinga biome now known to be on the brink of extinction. Designing new conservation units and potential corridors are therefore crucial for the long-term survival of the species within the Caatinga biome. Thus, our aims were: 1) to recognize suitable areas for jaguar occurrence, 2) to delineate areas for jaguar conservation (PJCUs), 3) to design corridors among priority areas, and 4) to prioritize PJCUs. A total of 62 points records of jaguar occurrence and 10 potential predictors were analyzed in a GIS environment. A predictive distributional map was obtained using Species Distribution Modeling (SDM) as performed by the Maximum Entropy (Maxent) algorithm. Areas equal to or higher than the median suitability value of 0.595 were selected as of high suitability for jaguar occurrence and named as Priority Jaguar Conservation Units (PJCU). Ten PJCUs with sizes varying from 23.6 km2 to 4,311.0 km2 were identified. Afterwards, we combined the response curve, as generated by SDM, and expert opinions to create a permeability matrix and to identify least cost corridors and buffer zones between each PJCU pair. Connectivity corridors and buffer zone for jaguar movement included an area of 8.884,26 km2 and the total corridor length is about 160.94 km. Prioritizing criteria indicated the PJCU representing c.a. 68.61% of the total PJCU area (PJCU # 1) as of high priority for conservation and connectivity with others PJCUs (PJCUs # 4, 5 and 7) desirable for the long term survival of the species. In conclusion, by using the jaguar as a focal species and combining SDM and expert opinion we were able to create a valid framework for practical conservation actions at the Caatinga biome. The same approach could be used for the conservation of other carnivores. - Funding: The authors thank Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfico e Tecnolo gico (CNPq) and Fundacao de Amparo a` Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP) for financial support. The authors are grateful with Programa de Revitalizacao do Rio Sao Francisco/Diretoria de Recursos Hdricos e Ambiente Urbano/Ministerio de Meio Ambiente, Instituto Chico Mendes de Conservacao da Biodiversidade, Instituto Fazenda Tamandua and BOVESPA-Social for financial support. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have decared that no competing interests exist. Habitat fragmentation has been recognized as a major threat to the conservation of a variety of species [1] [2] mainly because it can isolate previously connected populations and, consequently, disrupt original patterns of gene flow likely to lead to drift-induced differentiation among local population units [3]. For this reason, corridors are considered a valuable conservation tool [4] to promote the ability of individuals to move among habitat patches [5] and provide, in this way, an opportunity to mitigate the negative effects of demographic and environmental stochasticity [6] [7] and to sustain the populations genetic diversity and maintain the evolutionary processes associated [8]. Connectivity is a key factor supporting the long-term survival of a variety of species in fragmented areas. However, designing corridors has been a challenge due to the lack of methodological examples found in the literature, no widely accepted protocols, and few available practical examples of field assessment of wildlife corridors [9]. Different approaches have been used for designing corridors, with most of them based on target species and taking into account the behavioural response of these organisms to the landscape structure. Patterns of animal movement may be used as the baseline for corridor design; however, it depends on timeconsuming methods, such as the use long-term field data, dispersal movements, and demographics [10]. In this way, using models that rely solely on presence data to evaluate a species potential distribution and identify high suitable areas for a focal species could be a very useful tool for building potential corridors [11] [12]. In general this information can be applied for identifying core populations or habitat [11], which could be connected. In addition, these models could estimate the probability of a species occurrence related to different environmental variables [12]. Considering that some population models frequently used to evaluate connectivity, such as the least-cost path analyses models, depend on an understanding of how animals move through a landscape [13] such information can indicate environmental factors facilitating or impeaching animal movement or survival. Large carnivores are often proposed as focal species when evaluating landscape connectivity [10] due to their large area requirements [14] and because their dispersal through a landscape is frequently limited or blocked by areas of high human development or access [15]. The jaguar (Panthera onca), the largest cat of the Americas, has a broad distribution throughout Central and South America [16]. It is considered a focal species since its survival requirements encompass multiple factors that are essential for maintaining an ecologically healthy environment [17]. Recent research indicates that the reduction of a focal species population size, such as the jaguar, can lead to the extinction of another species in the community [18]. In this way, a range-wide model of landscape connectivity has been proposed using the jaguar as a focal species [19]. Besides the importance of this framework, we state the need of continuing studies at regional or local level. Also, it is important to mention that jaguars can occupy different habitat types and the use and selection of this space can be influenced by a variety of factors across its distribution range. In this way, connectivity models, using the jaguar as a focal species, should consider factors affecting its behaviour at more refined scales. We focused this study in the Caatinga biome, considered a priority area for jagua (...truncated)