Fatores que influenciam a intensidade de uso pela mastofauna de médio e grande portes em uma região antropizada no sudeste brasileiro

Abstract

Alterations of natural landscapes, due to anthropic activities (eg: agriculture, industry, real estate expansion and mining) during the Anthropocene, have isolated most species in small remnants of natural habitats. We used photographic traps and multiscale occupation modeling to assess how and to what extent environmental and anthropogenic variables influenced the richness and intensity of use by large and medium-sized mammals in two protected areas, but which suffer from anthropogenic pressures, in southeastern Brazil. At the sampling site scale, mammalian richness did not respond to any of the predicted variables evaluated. The intensity of use of sampling sites by mammals was higher in environments closer to water bodies, such as riparian forests. At the scale of the study region, we saw that both threatened and non-threatened species (n = 18) occurred with the same probability in the region. Our findings allow us to suggest that environments intensely altered by anthropic actions are still able to support a rich community of mammals of medium and large size, and existing riparian environments play a fundamental role in maintaining this community. It is also worth mentioning that the maintenance of the mammal community in these areas is fundamental to the well-being of the surrounding human population, providing several ecosystem services and exercising distinct ecological functions that allow to guarantee and preserve, for example, the water resources of riparian habitats