From jaguars and ocelots to anteaters and capybaras, most land mammals in the Brazilian Amazon are threatened by climate change and the region's proposed savannah. That's according to a study from the University of California, Davis, published in the journal Animal Conservation .
Animals that use forest and savannah habitats, such as pumas and giant armadillos, are also vulnerable to such changes, according to the research. It also shows that species and areas protected by local conservation efforts are not immune to global climate change.
"We're losing the Amazon rainforest as we speak," said lead author Daniel Rocha, a graduate student at the California Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology in Davis. “The biodiversity of the Amazon is very vulnerable to the effects of climate change. It's not just a local phenomenon, it's global. For example, you can't arrest him just to enforce the law. I can't, protect them as much as we thought."
What is "savanization"?
Pristine Savannah is a unique biome that is home to a variety of life forms. But “savannah” here refers to when the lush rainforest gives way to a barren, open landscape that looks like savannah but is actually degraded forest. Local deforestation and global climate change in temperature and precipitation contribute to this transformation along the southern and eastern margins of the Brazilian Amazon.
Of course, domesticated species such as monkeys will also be affected by these changes. However, the study authors wanted to better understand when land mammals, particularly those that use both forest and savannah habitats, have access to both.
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For the study, the researchers used land mammal cameras in four protected areas of the Amazon River in southern Brazil, a mix of rainforest and natural cerrado, or savanna. Using statistical models, they quantified how savannah habitat affects 31 species. They then looked for differences between species based on rainforest, savanna, or both habitats.
The results showed that only a few species preferred the savannah habitat. As Rocha points out, the models were based on degraded savannah, so the negative effects of savannah on animals are likely to be stronger.
The riparian forests that cover the moist banks of rivers and streams have helped to mitigate the effects of the savannah to some extent.
Winner and loser
"Unfortunately, there are more losers than winners," said Rocha, now an assistant professor at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma. “Most species in the Amazon choose forest when given the choice between good forest and good savanna. This also applies to species considered "generalist" that use both habitats. If we lose the forest, they suffer too.
The findings suggest that the ability of protected areas to protect wildlife is reduced when climatic savannas deny species access to their preferred habitat. The authors say this should be taken into consideration when assessing the impact of climate change on these species.
More information: DG Rocha et al., Habitat Use Patterns suggest climate-related vegetation changes will harm mammalian communities in the Amazon, Animal Conservation (2023). DOI: 10.1111/acv.12853
Citation : Study Reveals Impacts of Savannahization on Terrestrial Animals of the Brazilian Amazon (February 15, 2023) Retrieved February 16, 2023 https://phys.org/news/2023-02-reveals-impacts-savannization-brazilian-amazon. html
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