Relação entre populações humanas e assembléia de carnívoros na reserva de desenvolvimento sustentável piagaçú-purus, amazônia central

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Reserves (SDR) have been used by the Brazilian government to promote conservation in the Amazon, however, few studies evaluated if these achieve sustainability livelihoods and biodiversity within reserves. Carnivores are greatly affected by human population density and impacts on their populations should be evaluated in these units of conservation. In our study we used four techniques to evaluate the status of carnivore populations. These were surveys and questionnaires that seek to measure the influence of human populations on carnivores inside Piagaçu-Purus (PP) SDR, Brazilian Amazon. Twelve transects situated far and near from villages were used to measure population status, and questionnaires were applied at six communities. Fifteen carnivores species were registered in the area indicating a high diversity for this order of vertebrates at SDR-PP. Our results indicate that big cats use far sites from villages more frequently then near and villagers report that all carnivores, except Eira barbara, are more frequently encountered at far sites. Proximity of perennial water courses also influenced the carnivore distribution. We generate information about use and population threat for each carnivore species inside SDR-PP, and make recommendations the uses of the SDR as a conservation tool for carnivores.