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Population Status of Primates in the Atlantic Forest of Argentina

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Abstract

To guide future conservation actions and management decisions, it is crucial to assess the population status and identify the environmental or anthropogenic variables that affect species’ abundance and persistence. The main goal of our study was to evaluate the population and conservation status of the three primate species inhabiting the Atlantic Forest of Misiones, Argentina: the brown howler monkey (Alouatta guariba), the black-and-gold howler monkey (Alouatta caraya), and the black-horned capuchin monkey [Sapajus (= Cebus) nigritus]. We conducted repeated surveys at 31 transects in the central-eastern portion of Misiones province where the three species co-occur, and used occupancy models to assess the effect of human accessibility on black-horned capuchins. In addition, we carried out interviews with local people to assess the status of all three species and the extent to which yellow fever outbreaks may have affected each of them. During the surveys we found no direct or indirect evidence of the presence of brown howlers or black-and-gold howlers in the study area, while we recorded 18 direct and indirect signs of presence of black-horned capuchins in a total of 12 sites. Based on interviews and comparisons with previous density estimates, we conclude that the abundance of both howler species has dropped drastically, possibly due to recent yellow fever outbreaks. Conservation action is thus urgent, especially for the endangered brown howler population. Although black-horned capuchins are not currently considered threatened, we found them to be sensitive to anthropogenic disturbance. In the next few decades, the predictable spread and increasing intensity of human activities in this region may cause a drastic decline of this capuchin population.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Ministry of Ecology of Misiones for the research permit, and many park rangers for their continuous support during the study. Among others, we particularly thank Claudio Maders, Victor Matuchaka, Celso Maciel, Leonardo Rangel, “Colo” and Nadia Baez. Thanks also to the many local inhabitants outside the protected areas who were extraordinarily collaborative with the interviews. The contributions of Ingrid Holzmann, Brandon Wheeler, Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, Joanna Setchell, and two anonymous reviewers greatly improved an early draft of this manuscript. This research was supported by grants of the Rowe Wright Primate Fund, American Society of Primatologists (Conservation Small Grant Award), and The Mohammed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (grant #10251570).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Biología Subtropical (IBS), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) – Universidad Nacional de Misiones (UNaM), Bertoni 85, CP3370, Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina

    Ilaria Agostini, Carlos De Angelo & Mario S. Di Bitetti

  2. Asociación Civil Centro de Investigaciones del Bosque Atlántico (CeIBA), Puerto Iguazú, Argentina

    Ilaria Agostini, Carlos De Angelo & Mario S. Di Bitetti

  3. Ministerio de Ecología y RNR de Misiones, Puerto Iguazú, Argentina

    Esteban Pizzio

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  1. Ilaria Agostini
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  2. Esteban Pizzio
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  3. Carlos De Angelo
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  4. Mario S. Di Bitetti
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Correspondence to Ilaria Agostini.

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Agostini, I., Pizzio, E., De Angelo, C. et al. Population Status of Primates in the Atlantic Forest of Argentina. Int J Primatol 36, 244–258 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10764-015-9821-9

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