Braga Ferreira, Guilherme;
(2019)
Camera trapping Cerrado mammals: assessing protected area effectiveness, influence of anthropogenic pressure and the occupancy-abundance relationship.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
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Abstract
Protected areas (PAs) are a cornerstone of conservation policy and have been established worldwide in order to mitigate the current environmental crisis. Although PAs are usually effective at avoiding habitat conversion, their effectiveness at safeguarding local biodiversity is less clear. Furthermore, a substantial number of PAs face threats related to anthropogenic pressures that can erode the biodiversity they aim to protect. In this thesis, I use camera trap data from a mosaic of protected areas in the Brazilian Cerrado to investigate PA effectiveness and the influence of human disturbance on mammal species. Additionally, I assess the relationship between occupancy and density estimates to improve the understanding of camera trap-derived metrics in wildlife research. Overall, I surveyed 517 camera trap sites distributed across seven PAs under two contrasting types of management, totaling more than 25,000 survey days. My results revealed that PA type has a strong effect on the mammal community studied, with much higher species richness and occupancy probability in strict than in multiple-use PAs, particularly for larger and threatened mammals. I also found that succession stage of the savanna vegetation (old growth vs secondary) in a strict PA did not have a negative impact on species occupancy, and that secondary savannas supported a diverse mammal community. Despite the strong effect of PA type on the spatial distribution of mammals, I found little evidence that anthropogenic pressure influenced species’ activity patterns, with few species shifting to being more nocturnal in multiple-use PAs or closer to households. Finally, my results indicated that occupancy and density estimates obtained from camera trap data tend to have a species-specific positive relationship and that under certain circumstances camera trap-derived occupancy can reflect variation in species’ abundance across the landscape.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Camera trapping Cerrado mammals: assessing protected area effectiveness, influence of anthropogenic pressure and the occupancy-abundance relationship |
| Event: | UCL |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2019. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10081721 |
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