Effectiveness of protected areas for jaguars: the case of the Taiamã Ecological Station in Brazil

The largest feline in the Americas and the third largest in the world, the jaguar is an apex predator in the food chain and a key species in the ecosystems where it occurs, developing important ecological functions in maintaining ecosystem balance. In Brazil, the Pantanal is considered an important refuge for the species, and protected areas such as the Taiamã Ecological Station (TES) are relevant for conservation of pristine ecosystem where the species persist. Thus, considering that this area is located in one of the regions with the highest concentration of this large cat in the Pantanal, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the protection given by the TES for the jaguar population. The station is a flooded island in the middle of the Paraguay river and surrounded by extensive wetlands. We monitored ten jaguars using GPS collar at the TES and its surroundings. The samples were separated into high-water season (January to June) and low-water season (July to December), and the estimated home ranges were grouped as: 1) residents only and 2) all monitored individuals. The stabilization of the home ranges of eight jaguars, considered residents, was determined through variograms. When all jaguars were analysed together there was 55% overlap between the clustered areas of the two analysed seasons. In the analysis excluding non-resident individuals there was 72% overlap between the clustered areas. The type of land cover inside these areas was very similar between these periods. The range of this protected area is not sufficient to effectively protect these jaguar populations, since the grouped home ranges of the resident animals studied are 3.5(wet)/2.5(dry) times larger than the area of the TES. However...(AU)

Effectiveness of protected areas for jaguars: the case of the Taiamã Ecological Station in Brazil

The largest feline in the Americas and the third largest in the world, the jaguar is an apex predator in the food chain and a key species in the ecosystems where it occurs, developing important ecological functions in maintaining ecosystem balance. In Brazil, the Pantanal is considered an important refuge for the species, and protected areas such as the Taiamã Ecological Station (TES) are relevant for conservation of pristine ecosystem where the species persist. Thus, considering that this area is located in one of the regions with the highest concentration of this large cat in the Pantanal, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the protection given by the TES for the jaguar population. The station is a flooded island in the middle of the Paraguay river and surrounded by extensive wetlands. We monitored ten jaguars using GPS collar at the TES and its surroundings. The samples were separated into high-water season (January to June) and low-water season (July to December), and the estimated home ranges were grouped as: 1) residents only and 2) all monitored individuals. The stabilization of the home ranges of eight jaguars, considered residents, was determined through variograms. When all jaguars were analysed together there was 55% overlap between the clustered areas of the two analysed seasons. In the analysis excluding non-resident individuals there was 72% overlap between the clustered areas. The type of land cover inside these areas was very similar between these periods. The range of this protected area is not sufficient to effectively protect these jaguar populations, since the grouped home ranges of the resident animals studied are 3.5(wet)/2.5(dry) times larger than the area of the TES. However...

Looking for consensual protection categories to reduce conservation conflicts in protected áreas / Procurando categorias de proteção consensuais para reduzir conflitos em áreas protegidas

Decision-making in protected areas is often difficult due to an unclear definition of management objectives and indicators for their monitoring. This is frequently related to the coexistence of systems of protected areas at national and regional levels for which management objectives are ambiguous or that are not directly related to protected areas classification standards. In this study, we proposed a participative model based on PROMETHEE II to find consensual protected areas categories based on IUCN framework. This model involved the stakeholders assessments of management objectives in a protected area and their aggregation based on distance comparisons with objectives of international protected areas standards. The model was tested in the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, a strongly human-modified wetland located in Eastern Spain and it allowed the identification of consensual management priorities and the IUCN category V as the equivalent international protected area category for this regional protected area.(AU)

A tomada de decisão em áreas protegidas é frequentemente um processo difícil pelo facto de não se encontrarem claramente definidos os objetivos de gestão e os indicadores para o seu monitoramento. Tal está habitualmente relacionado com a coexistência de sistemas de áreas protegidas a nível nacional e regional para os quais os objetivos de conservação são ambíguos, ou não se encontram diretamente enquadrados em normas formais de classificação de áreas protegidas. Neste estudo propomos um modelo participativo baseado em “PROMETHEE II” para definir categorias de áreas protegidas consensuais baseadas na estrutura da UICN. Este modelo considera a avaliação dos objetivos de gestão por parte de atores em áreas protegidas, e a sua agregação baseada na comparação de distâncias com os objetivos de normas internacionais destas áreas. O modelo foi testado no Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, uma zona úmida fortemente antropizada localizada no Leste de Espanha, o que permitiu a identificação de prioridades consensuais de gestão e a categoria V da UICN como a categoria internacional de área protegida equivalente para esta área protegida regional.(AU)

Looking for consensual protection categories to reduce conservation conflicts in protected áreas / Procurando categorias de proteção consensuais para reduzir conflitos em áreas protegidas

Decision-making in protected areas is often difficult due to an unclear definition of management objectives and indicators for their monitoring. This is frequently related to the coexistence of systems of protected areas at national and regional levels for which management objectives are ambiguous or that are not directly related to protected areas classification standards. In this study, we proposed a participative model based on PROMETHEE II to find consensual protected areas categories based on IUCN framework. This model involved the stakeholder’s assessments of management objectives in a protected area and their aggregation based on distance comparisons with objectives of international protected areas standards. The model was tested in the Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, a strongly human-modified wetland located in Eastern Spain and it allowed the identification of consensual management priorities and the IUCN category V as the equivalent international protected area category for this regional protected area.

A tomada de decisão em áreas protegidas é frequentemente um processo difícil pelo facto de não se encontrarem claramente definidos os objetivos de gestão e os indicadores para o seu monitoramento. Tal está habitualmente relacionado com a coexistência de sistemas de áreas protegidas a nível nacional e regional para os quais os objetivos de conservação são ambíguos, ou não se encontram diretamente enquadrados em normas formais de classificação de áreas protegidas. Neste estudo propomos um modelo participativo baseado em “PROMETHEE II” para definir categorias de áreas protegidas consensuais baseadas na estrutura da UICN. Este modelo considera a avaliação dos objetivos de gestão por parte de atores em áreas protegidas, e a sua agregação baseada na comparação de distâncias com os objetivos de normas internacionais destas áreas. O modelo foi testado no Albufera de Valencia Natural Park, uma zona úmida fortemente antropizada localizada no Leste de Espanha, o que permitiu a identificação de prioridades consensuais de gestão e a categoria V da UICN como a categoria internacional de área protegida equivalente para esta área protegida regional.